MYSTICS NOTES

• The Washington Mystics (13-8) won, 88-72, against the Chicago Sky (7-14) Friday night at Capital One Arena. Washington finishes 3-0 against Chicago this regular season and has now defeated the Sky in seven consecutive matchups.
• The Mystics were led by rookie guard Ariel Atkins, who scored a career-high 25 points, shooting 8-14 (.571) from the field and 4-7 (.571) from 3-point range. Atkins also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.
• Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne scored 25 points of her own, shooting 10-19 (.526) from the field and 2-3 (.667) from 3-point range. Tonight marked Delle Donne’s seventh game this season with 25+ points and ninth game with multiple 3-pointers.
• Washington’s average margin of victory against Chicago this season is 20.0 points per game, the largest average margin of victory for a WNBA team against a single opponent (min. two games).
• Washington totaled 39 total rebounds and 16 offensive rebounds, tying season highs in each category.
• Mystics guard Natasha Cloud scored eight points and dished out eight assists – her eighth game this season with 5+ assists and eighth time this season leading the team in assists.
• The Mystics trailed, 27-25, at the 5:40 mark of the second quarter before a Delle Donne driving layup sparked a 12-0 Washington run to take a 37-27 lead.
• The Mystics outscored the Sky, 20-8, in the second quarter to take a 45-33 halftime lead. Delle Donne’s 13 first-half points led the way for Washington. Washington’s eight points allowed in the second quarter tied the team low for the season.
• Washington and Chicago were tied, 25-25, after the first quarter. Cloud hit two of her three 3-point attempts and led Washington with six first-quarter points. Delle Donne and Atkins each scored five points in the opening frame.
• The Mystics return to action on Sunday, July 15, taking on the Atlanta Dream at 3 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion. Washington lost its only previous matchup with Atlanta, 106-89, Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. Sunday’s game is the first of five consecutive road games for the Mystics.

MYSTICS HEAD COACH MIKE THIBAULT

On tonight’s game: 

“A win is a win… I don’t think we played all that great for stretches. I thought that that was really sloppy for that stretch at the end of the third and the first part of the fourth quarter. I thought we had bad offensive possessions. I thought the defense looked a little like it did the other night against Atlanta for a couple minutes. We made mistakes that we’re not supposed to make. You know, for 70 percent of the game was really good but I’m trying to find 100 percent of the game right now, on the defensive end. Then I thought we got frustrated and we came down and took quick shots. I think we had five straight possessions where we didn’t really have a good possession and make them work at all on the defensive end. I just thought we just came down and shot and hoped it went in. I just don’t think that’s great basketball. I think there is a rhythm to those shots. I don’t mind coming down and taking the first shot but it’s got to be a rhythm. I can’t be ‘Oh, let me see if I can make it’. At least that’s what it felt like.”

On Ariel Atkins:

“She was great…She’s going to make some mistakes but she makes up for a lot of her mistakes with great effort and she’ll come back and get a steal, or she’ll get an offensive rebound, do those kind of things. She’s pretty dialed in for a rookie.”

MYSTICS FORWARD ELENA DELLE DONNE

On what led to the Sky comeback in the third quarter:

“They are a good team and when you let them get out in the transition, they are tough to guard because they have shooters to spread the floor, and athletic bigs who can run the floor and finish well, and we were turning the ball over and being sloppy on defense which is leading to great offense for them. Once we cleaned it up and slowed it down a little bit, we were much better.”

On what this win does for their confidence before going on the road:

“[It] just kind of reset us. Got us back to playing the way we can. We were really upset after that game against Atlanta, and we needed to kind of clean it up tonight to get us ready to get on the road.”

MYSTICS FORWARD ARIEL ATKINS

On being as steady as she is as a rookie:

“They allow me to be that. I do not have to be anything that I am not on this team and I really appreciate that so I am just able to be Ariel and it fits.”

On the differences between college and the WNBA as well as her performance tonight:

“I think the physicality, and the season is a lot more condensed right now. It feels good to have that kind of performance I think because the focus was defense. I think that is something that we put a staple on and it was important for us to focus on that, so to be able to have that defensive focus was important.”

MYSTICS LEADERS:
Points: Ariel Atkins, Elena Delle Donne – 25
Rebounds: Latoya Sanders – 8

Assists: Natasha Cloud – 7
Steals: Delle Donne – 3

SKY HEAD COACH AMBER STOCKS

On the runs in the second half:

“Our defense did a good job of getting stops, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalize on all of their stop with a rebound, securing the rebound and pushing on offense. The offense rebounds from Washington were a key factor in the outcome of this game.”

On Ariel Atkins:

“Well, she clearly learned a thing or two from Tina Thompson. She had a great game.”

SKY FORWARD STEFANIE DOLSON

On Ariel Atkins:

“She was good. She knocked down open shots. We lost her a few times, she rebounded pretty well. Unfortunately, we focused on other players and she happened to be on tonight.”

On the game:

“They were making shots. Anytime, we were able to make a shot, they were able to come down make a tough shot, get a rebound, a put back. We kept fouling which put them on the line and helped them make their runs to.”

SKY GUARD ALLIE QUIGLEY

On their run in the second half:

“We were already down by 20, so even if you make a run, you are still down by 10, so we had too much of a deficit.”

On Ariel Atkins:

“She made a lot of open shots and got rebounds. She played a good game.”

SKY LEADERS:
Points: Allie Quigley – 17
Rebounds: Diamond DeShields – 6

Assists: Courtney Vandersloot – 9
Steals: DeShields, Cheyenne Parker – 2