– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA — Despite the team name and the location they play almost all of their home games, the Washington Mystics might want to spend some more time in the Virginia part of the beltway after a rousing success in two rousing contests this week.
Shakira Austin scored the game-winning layup after an offensive rebound with 39.8 seconds remaining as the Mystics used a 12-2 game-ending run to stun the A’ja Wilson-less Las Vegas Aces 70-88 inside EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, on Thursday evening. Austin had 16 points and eight rebounds while Brittany Sykes led Washington with 18 points, 10 in the second half.
The Mystics have won two straight, on the heels of their win against the Chicago Sky — also in Fairfax — on Tuesday morning, and Washington is now back at the .500 mark on the season at 10-10.
Las Vegas led 66-58 with just over three minutes remaining before the Mystics started their game-ending run with a three-point play from Sonia Citron. A couple of possessions later, Austin scored on a driving layup that cut the Aces lead to three, and then two free throws from Kiki Iriafen closed the gap to just one with 1:48 left.
Jackie Young brought the Aces’ lead back to three with a layup with 1:32 left, which was answered by Sykes’ jumper on the ensuing possession.
Sykes’ attempt to give the Mystics the lead after the defensive stop missed short, but Austin grabbed the rebound in traffic and scored for Washington’s first lead of the second half. Washington withstood two missed Aces’ field-goal attempt and its own turnover in the final 30 seconds, and Young’s driving layup right before the buzzer rimmed out to seal Washington’s comeback victory.
Jewell Loyd led all scorers with 20 points for the Aces, who held a lead as much as 15 points, 46-31, early in the second half. Wilson missed the game due to a sprained right wrist suffered in Las Vegas’ defeat in Brooklyn against the New York Liberty on Tuesday.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday evening’s game, with photos taken by DC area-based photographer Clifford Ray Williams. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 14 pictures in total.
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