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Washington Mystics defeat the Atlanta Dream 71-56 to take a 1-0 lead in their first round playoff series

Ivory Latta scored 14 points and dished 7 assists, and Crystal Langhorne added 12 points and 15 rebounds to help the Washington Mystics beat the Atlanta Dream, 71-56 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Tayler Hill didn't start and didn't shoot well, but she still played significant time to help DC win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Tayler Hill didn't start and didn't shoot well, but she still played significant time to help DC win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

In addition for the Mystics, Monique Currie and Kia Vaughn also added double figures in scoring.  From the bench, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt scored 8 points.  The playoff win was the first win for DC in the postseason since 2004 when they lost two games to one against the Connecticut Sun which coincidentally was coached by now Mystics head coach Mike Thibault.

For the Dream, Angel McCoughtry led in scoring with 20 points, with Tiffany Hayes and Jasmine Thomas also scoring in double figures.  No Dream player shot above 50% from the field in the game.

Though this game was a blow out, the Mystics only attempted seven free throws while the Dream attempted 13.  However, the Mystics dominated the Dream in team assists (21 for DC and 11 for ATL); and in rebounding (48-36).  Also, the Dream had a very cold shooting night, only making 26.7% of its shots, while the Mystics made 44.4% of theirs.

The series heads to Verizon Center on Saturday as the Mystics could sweep the Dream and head to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the 2002 season.  In addition, for Mike Thibault, as crazy as it seemed in the preseason, he's really close to getting back to the same round where last year's Connecticut Sun team advanced to as well.