The Mystics season has been marred with losses stemming from fourth quarter mishaps to the lack of availability of Shakira Austin and Brittany Sykes due to injury. These factors led to Washington finding themselves in unfamiliar territory at 0-10. However, recent back-to-back victories are igniting a much-needed spark as the Mystics have now moved to 2-12.
In their victory on Friday in a rematch against the Chicago Sky, who the team faced at Capital One Arena last week in the homecoming game for Angel Reese, the Mystics held a lead for the entire game leading by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter. The Mystics got off to a quick start, outscoring the Sky 24-10 in the first quarter, which is the fewest points the team has allowed in a quarter all season.
This was the second-straight and fifth game this season that the Mystics have had 35+ rebounds and 20+ assists in a game. Over the last three games, the Mystics are third in the league in assists per game, averaging 23.7, trailing only behind the Liberty (25.0) and Lynx (27.3).
Aaliyah Edwards (16 pts) and Ariel Atkins (29 pts) also combined for 45 of the Mystics 83 points.
Although it has been a tough road securing two victories, the Mystics never lost hope or got too lost in the frustration. Instead, they continued to work together towards a common goal of winning.
“We keep finding a way to grind. We keep finding a way to push,” Ariel Atkins said. “And my favorite thing about this team, and I’ll say it time and time again, is that we do it together. Like there is no separation. There’s no pointing fingers. We’re just sticking together. And I wouldn’t want to go through the season with any other group of people to be honest with you.”
Atkins also went on to discuss the friendship that the team has formed and how that has helped get through the tough stretch.
“I think we see it in practice. And when we were building our team in training camp. We got a good group of people, and everybody wants everybody to succeed. There’s not one person here that’s like, I’m trying to get mine,” Atkins said. “I think we’re all locked into each other and want each other to play to our strengths. At the end of the day, we’re all competitors, and we want to win. So we have a common goal, and we stick to that, and we do it with gratitude and thankfulness that we get to do something like this every day.”