Aggression pays off for Mystics
By Keith Henry
WASHINGTON- It didn't look good in the first half at the Verizon Center. Alana Beard got in foul trouble early in the game when she racked up three fouls by a minute into the second quarter. However, the second half was pleasantly different in the Mystics' 72-61 victory over the Atlanta Dream.

"You saw our aggressiveness totally pick up in the second half. That was the key right there. Just everyone being aggressive and playing hard," said the Mystics' Coco Miller.

Trailing 23-22 in a first half wasn't exactly pleasing to any Mystic. Washington (5-7) shot nearly 31% from the field in the first half (22% in the second quarter) to Atlanta's near 39%.

The difference seemed to be the halftime chat head coach Tree Rollins had with his Mystics. What was said varied from player to player, but the effects were positive in the second half. Center Nakia Sanford stated, "Coach said we were playing like (bleep) and that we need to go out there and play better than we did."

Guard Alana Beard said, "There were words that I couldn't repeat, but it definitely put a fire up under on our (butts). It got us going."

It did right away because the Mystics outscored Atlanta 10-2 in the opening three minutes of the second half. Most of that run was led by Beard, who scored seven of those points, including a three-pointer to give Washington a 32-25 advantage with 7:32 left in the third quarter.

Atlanta point guard Ivory Latta got hot later in the third quarter to spark an Atlanta comeback. Latta converted three of her four three-point attempts, including a crucial three that gave the Dream a 40-39 lead with 3:10 left.

The Mystics came back and took a 49-46 lead on a couple of free throws and a lay-up from Monique Currie near the end of the quarter.

Washington's aggressiveness in the paint paid off big time in the second half as they outscored Atlanta 34-16 in the paint. In the fourth quarter, the Mystics limited Atlanta (0-12) to only three field goals and a 16.7% field goal percentage while the Mystics hit 47.6% in putting the Dream away. Beard said, "We were aggressive. We took up our defensive intensity, had a sense of urgency and we came away with the win."

"Our post game was a little bit obsolete (Friday). We didn't have anything inside. It's all guard oriented and you can't win that way. We got to have some people rebounding and sticking the ball back in," said Atlanta head coach Marynell Meadors.