Mystics Will Try to Slow High-Scoring Mercury

By Katie Carrera

The Washington Post

June 25, 2009

Since she was hired in November, Washington Mystics Coach Julie Plank has preached that defense would serve as the backbone of this franchise's new identity. Tonight at 7, her squad's defense will face its toughest test yet when the Mystics host the Phoenix Mercury and its high-octane offense.

The Mercury (5-3) is the WNBA's ultimate run-and-gun team, daring opponents to keep up with its league-best 91.4 points per game. Led by Olympians Diana Taurasi (22.5 ppg) and Cappie Pondexter (20.1 ppg) -- also two of the top five scorers in the league -- Phoenix boasts six players who average double digits, and it will try to draw Washington into a full-scale offensive shootout.

'I think we could go with them a little bit,' Mystics center Crystal Langhorne said. 'But we really don't want to get into their style of game, because they're so fast. We have to find a way to slow them down, and make them play a half-court game, if we want to keep ourselves in it.'

In their past two contests, the Mystics (4-1), who have the fourth-best scoring average in the WNBA at 79.2 points a game, have struggled with slow starts. A sluggish performance against Atlanta on June 19 resulted in Washington's first loss of the season. A day later, the Mystics rallied for a second-half comeback against Chicago after a lackluster start. If they struggle out of the gate against Phoenix though, they may not have the chance for late-game heroics.

'We've got to start out strong like we did the first game of the season,' forward Monique Currie said. 'We know we can fight back but we don't want to be fighting back all the time. It needs to be 'get ahead and stay ahead.' '

Mystics Note: Rookie forward Marissa Coleman is expected to miss her third straight game with a high ankle sprain, but the Mystics should have forward Kristen Mann back in the lineup after she missed two games with an illness.

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