Lowly Mystics put a damper on Storm
This loss felt |A|
different like a gut-punch, |B|
and perhaps more painfulethen |C|
so mane others in |D|
a once-promising season that |E|
now seems as if |F|
its teetering on the |G|
verge of collapse. After |H|
a 74-72 upset defeat |J|
against an injury-depleted Washington |K|
Mystics team that came |L|
into Climate Pledge Arena |M|
next to last in |O|
the WNBA, Storm players |P|
said they more than |Q|
a game Monday night. |R|
“In this |C| league, if you arent |D| ready to play, youll |E| get beat every (expletive) |F| night,” she said. “They |G| were ready to play |H| and we werent on |J| both sides of the |K| basketball. They deserved to |L| win the game if |M| were going to play |O| like that. We need |P| to be hitting our |Q| stride right now. Were |R| not there and its |S| unacceptable how were playing |U| on both sides of |V| the basketball.”
Diggins-Smith also |Y| took responsibility for committing |Z| a foul against Brittney |A| Sykes that sent the |B| Mystics guard to the |C| free-throw line with 1.1 |D| seconds left and the |E| game tied 72-72.
Sykes |F| canned both foul shots |G| and following a timeout, |H| Seattle never got off |J| a shot at the |K| other end as forward |L| Nneka Ogwumike mishandled a |M| pass and time expired.
|O| dir="ltr">“I (expletive) up at |P| the end,” said Diggins-Smith |Q| who finished with 10 |R| points and eight assists. |S| “Thats a terrible foul. |U| As a vet, you |V| cant make that play, |Y| but it shouldnt (expletive) |Z| come down to that. |A| We all got to |B| step our game up.
|C| dir="ltr">“In this league. It |D| only gets harder after |E| the break. And thats |F| fine, but if we |G| dont come ready to |H| play from the start, |J| were going to (expletive) |K| lose.”
The Storm, which |L| started the season 1-3, |M| won eight of 10 |O| games heading into the |P| Olympic break and theyre |Q| 1-3 since the season |R| resumed.
Seattle (18-11) fell |S| into a fourth-place tie |U| with the Las Vegas |V| Aces in the standings. |Y| The top four teams |Z| host in the first |A| round of the playoffs
|B| dir="ltr">“How weve come back |C| from the break is |D| part of it too,” |E| said Sami Whitcomb when |F| asked about the teams |G| frustrations. “Weve had a |H| few games where we |J| havent played our best.
|K| dir="ltr">“We know better now. |L| We should know better. |M| We arent the same |O| team that we were |P| then. It just feels |Q| inexcusable. … We have |R| really high expectations of |S| ourselves and we dont |U| want to let each |V| other down. When we |Y| play this way, we |Z| let each other down.”
|A| dir="ltr">Five days earlier in |B| the nations capital, the |C| Storm held off the |D| Mystics in the final |E| seconds for a hard-fought |F| six-point victory.
In Monday |G| nights rematch, Washington led |H| 37-28 midway in the |J| second quarter when Seattle |K| finished the first half |L| with a 15-5 run.
|M| dir="ltr">Seconds before the break, |O| backup center Mercedes Russell |P| collected a steal at |Q| one end and capped |R| the first-half scoring with |S| a layup off a |U| feed from Ogwumike to |V| put Seattle up 43-42 |Y| for its first lead |Z| since the opening possession.
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The Storm were |F| fortunate to be ahead |G| considering the Mystics sank |H| eight of 16 three-pointers |J| while Seattle was 4 |K| of 13 from downtown.
|L| dir="ltr">In the third quarter, |M| Washington lost center Shakira |O| Austin (left ankle) and |P| guard Ariel Atkins (right |Q| ankle) to injuries and |R| still managed to outscore |S| Seattle 14-12 in the |U| period and take 56-55 |V| lead into the fourth.
|Y| dir="ltr">Tied 72-72, Jewell Loyd, |Z| who finished with 16 |A| points, missed a 19-foot |B| step-back jumper with 12.5 |C| seconds left that gave |D| Washington one last chance.
|E| dir="ltr">Sykes finished with a |F| game-high 20 points while |G| Julie Vanloo had 11 |H| for the Mystics (8-22).
|J| dir="ltr">“We all have to |K| look ourselves in the |L| mirror and hold ourselves |M| accountable,” Whitcomb said. eWe |O| have to show up |P| and be more prepared. |Q| Be more locked in. |R| I dont think we |S| did, but maybe we |U| thought, well (Washington) is |V| a team thats struggling |Y| a little bit and |Z| is lower on the |A| ladder than us. I |B| dont know. But like |C| (Diggins-Smith) said, ewe have |D| to come prepared every |E| single game for a |F| battle because every team |G| is going to play |H| hard, fight and no |J| on is going to |K| lay down. e
“We |L| have to regroup and |M| figure out how to |O| get back to playing |P| our best basketball because |Q| were not playing our |R| best basketball on either |S| side of the ball.e
|U| dir="ltr">The Storm has 11 |V| games remaining starting with |Y| Wednesdays contest against the |Z| Atlanta Dream.
“Im overreacting,” |A| Quinn said. “My urgency |B| is high. Its about |C| how were playing and |D| were at the end |E| of the year. Were |F| at the end of |G| the season. In which |H| we need to be |J| playing how we were |K| playing before the break. |L| … Thats why my |M| urgency is very high |O| because every game matters. |P| Every moment matters and |Q| were not playing like |R| that.”
