Mystics End Five-Game Skid Against Sparks (8-23-24)
By: Jaden Golding
Headline Photo Credit: WNBA/Getty
Washington D.C.- The Washington Mystics led by Brittney Sykes’s season-high 28-point performance defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 80-74 on Friday evening.
Washington (7-22) came into the game losers of five-straight games looking to pick up a victory over a Los Angeles (6-23) squad on a six-game losing streak of their own.
The game was a tight affair all night long, entering the fourth the Sparks led 55-54. Washington opened the fourth with a key 10-0 run that helped them gain a nine-point lead. Shakira Austin opened the run with back-to-back inside shots assisted by Sykes, followed by Emily Engstler with a pair of free-throws, Sykes hitting a pull-up jumper, and Engstler making a layup.
Sparks All-Star Dearica Hamby responded with a bucket and split a pair of free throws to cut the D.C. lead down to 64-58 with 6:36 left.
Unfortunately for LA, six points is as close as they would get to the Mystics lead for the rest of the game. Washington did a good job of answering the Sparks buckets and keeping them from gaining momentum to get back in the game.
Rookie first-rounder Rickea Jackson was Los Angeles’s consistent presence on offense, leading with 17 points on 6-11 shooting from the field, and 3-5 from three. Jackson has now scored in double figures for seven straight games.
Ariel Atkins added 15 points for Washington, and Shakira Austin finished with her first double-double performance on the season, scoring 14 points and snagging 11 rebounds.
Washington will look to build momentum off this performance as they take the road west to take on the Seattle Storm, on Monday at 10 p.m et.
