The Daily Swish: The Mystics had a great Friday

Friday was a game where the Washington Mystics had a great day from the Hall of Fame and to their own performance. Hell, even other games helped them.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Links

Immaculata University's 1972-1974 women's basketball team was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame - The link will take you to the team's speech at NBA.com. While she didn't speak, Washington Mystics assistant coach Marianne Stanley was there.

The Hartford Courant also has a more detailed feature on the team - This team was truly the first powerhouse in women's college basketball, where you learn that they were the first women's team to play at Madison Square Garden, to be on national TV. We also learned that their situations on the road were not as cushy as they are for athletes today.

Friday final scores

The Mystics beat the Fever, 74-61 - Mike Thibault and his team were pissed off after getting insulted on national television Wednesday. They took out their anger at Indy's expense. Ivory Latta was huge in the second quarter, and then Kia Vaughn took over in the third. Link to our recap.

Connecticut Sun falls to the New York Liberty, 71-66 - The Sun fell to an early 16 point deficit in the second quarter, and were able to take the lead in the second half. But it ultimately wasn't enough. Recap here from John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant. We also have a recap for you here.

The San Antonio Stars were rocked by the Tulsa Shock, 79-62 and lose their fourth straight - The Shock went on a 43-25 second half run to make this game a blowout. Link to StarsHoops.net.

The Los Angeles Sparks beat the Atlanta Dream in overtime, 80-77 - Candace Parker scored 26 points and Jantel Lavender added 15 points more for the Sparks. For the Dream, Angel McCoughtry scored 12 points but fouled out. Erika de Souza had the best effort, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Shoni Schimmel added 12 more points off the bench and made things interesting in the end, but to no avail. Here's a recap from the AP.

With the Dream losing, and the Mystics winning on Friday, there are now only two games that separate these squads. Nate-stradamus had a pretty bold statement last week about the ladies in Monumental Red:

"Could this team have an outside shot at the #1 seed now? "

Believe it or not, I might even skip that question and look further ahead: what seeding would be most advantageous for the Mystics in making the Finals? I bring that up because (yet again in the W) the fourth seed could be a sleeper: a fully healthy Sky or a veteran Liberty team that has finally figured things out. Of course, a ton could change as there are just 3 games separating 2nd and last, but I think the number of shifting pieces around the league probably warrants a close look at specific matchups.

More women's basketball links

Phoenix Mercury signs Diana Taurasi to multi-year contract extension - Taurasi spent all 11 years of her pro career in Phoenix. She should be there until she retires. Here's our post on it.

Napheesa Collier leads USA U-18s past Canada - The UConn commit scored 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 106-76 win over Canada in pool play for the U-18 FIBA Americas tournament. The win gets Team USA a #1 seed and a Saturday match against Argentina in the semifinals. Link to SNYUConn.

Tulsa Shock guard Odyssey Sims has made a strong case for the WNBA rookie of the year award - Sims won the Rookie of the Month for July and averages 16.1 points and 4.3 assists per game. While Connecticut Sun forward Chiney Ogwumike has made a strong case for the award in her own right, Shock head coach Fred Williams said, "She’s been real steady with her scoring and assists, but she’s also helped win games defensively. She’s had to guard some real all-star and veteran players and done a good job with that. She probably should be the leading candidate." Link to the Tulsa World.

And there's more!

NCAA loses the O'Bannon trial, but not by much - ruling. One major note is that schools can offer recruits $5,000 from a trust fund. But athletes can't market themselves. FOX Sports also has more detailed legal analysis.

CBS Sports to Make TV History with All-Female Sports Talk Show This Fall - The show will not only be made up of all female hosts, but the directors of the show will also be women. All that said, it won't be a show on women's sport's issues, but rather a sports show that happens to be hosted by women.Read here from The Big Lead of USA Today.

If you have more links, please share them in the comments below.