Washington Mystics upset the Tulsa Shock in overtime, 95-90

The Washington Mystics upset the Tulsa Shock to win their first game of the season 95-90 in overtime, led by guard Ivory Latta who scored a career high 27 points against her old team. Rookie guard Tayler Hill started the game and looked passive on offense all game and only had 3 points in 20 minutes, though I don't know if that's because she was really passive or because no one would pass her the ball or maybe both. Still I actually liked the defense she provided on the perimeter. I was also pleased to see Emma Meesseman and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt play meaningful minutes. Meesseman had three assists though she didn't attempt a shot all game.

The veteran players in DC definitely were pumped and came to play very strong games. Crystal Langhorne had 16 points and 9 rebounds as well as three steals. Matee Ajavon had 19 points off the bench on 6-10 shooting, and made both of her threes. Mo Currie had 7 points, 8 rebounds, and three assists for a solid all around game.

For the Shock, Skylar Diggins had her first double digit assist game in her career with 11 assists to go with 9 points. Reneeka Hodges was a flamethrower today, making six of seven threes and had 22 points all night. Glory Johnson had a triple double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Liz Cambage added 21 points and 10 rebounds.

The good news for the Mystics with this game is that Mike Thibault got everyone to pass the rock effectively and seven players recorded an assist, and four players had three for the game. Also, this game adds a lot of confidence to this team, which lost 13 straight games coming into this one.

Shock fans shouldn't leave disappointed however because Diggins really played very well tonight with her playmaking ability, and we got to see Glory Johnson really start hitting her potential. However, the killer for the Shock in my opinion was the fact that the black and gold only scored once in overtime and the Mystics struggled to score as well for much of the period too. When you don't score when the other team has a drought, especially in OT, that can spell a loss in the making.

All things considered, though I wished that Hill played more, I am happy to see that most of the younger players got a chance to play good minutes. Still, I wished Nadirah McKenith got a chance to play, but it's early.

So Coach Thibault and the Washington Mystics, keep playing the young players, the vets need to put up solid performances like what we saw today, and yes, we want you to prove us all wrong! I'm very pleased with the performance I saw today!