– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport
WASHINGTON — The Washington Mystics made the best of a couple of debuts to notch their first regular-season win of the 2019 season.
Elena Delle Donne, playing after missing the season opener with an injury, scored 18 points while teammate Ariel Atkins paced her squad with 21 points as the Mystics christened the new Entertainment and Sports Arena with a 96-75 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Saturday night.
Without Delle Donne to open the season as she was dealing with a left knee injury, the Mystics fell to the Connecticut Sun in their season opener on the road but barely had any issues tonight because of the hot start from their star forward, who hit all five of her shots in the first quarter and scored 10 points as Washington opened up a 26-16 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Atkins made eight of her 11 shots from the field, including 4-of-7 on threes, as the Mystics shot a blistering 56.7 percent for the game, including making 29 of their 42 attempts from two-point territory.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday’s game, with all photos taken by ALOST DC-area photographer Yusuf Abdullah. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are currently 12 pictures in total.