Ariel Atkins pumped in 29 points and the Washington Mystics, who were winless earlier in the week, held on for their second consecutive victory, defeating the visiting Chicago Sky 83-81 on Friday night.
Aaliyah Edwards added 16 points and nine rebounds and Karlie Samuelson notched 12 points for Washington in a matchup between teams that have struggled for most of the season.
It was the first victory in six home games this year for the Mystics (2-12), who benefitted from Akins’ 9-for-13 shooting from the field.
Chennedy Carter scored 16 points, Dana Evans had 14 points and Kamilla Cardoso provided 12 points for the Sky (4-8), who took their third loss in a row, all by single digits. Angel Reese had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Atkins made a jumper to put the Mystics up 81-73 with two minutes to play. Her two free throws with 1:01 left were the team’s last points.
Lindsay Allen’s layup for Chicago with 50.7 seconds to go pulled Chicago within 83-81.
Allen missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds to play.
A foul by Washington’s Emily Engstler sent Marina Mabrey to the free-throw line with 0.2 seconds remaining. Mabrey missed both attempts — the second one intentionally — as the game ended.
The Mystics posted only 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Chicago, down by 15 in the first half, closed within 52-49 midway through the third quarter. Evans had five straight Sky points, giving the team its first double-figure scorer in the game.
The Sky pulled even at 56-56 on an Evans 3-pointer with just under three minutes left in the period before the Mystics stretched their margin to 68-59 entering the fourth.
The Mystics held a 23-8 lead by the final minute of the first quarter. Washington shot 51.4 percent from the field in the first half to hold a 47-36 lead at the break.
Overall on the night, Chicago outshot Washington 45.5 percent to 43.8 percent.
–Field Level Media
