SUPER BOWL 2012

The Mystics Beat the Atlanta Dream tonight -- in overtime -- 98-90, on national television, to gain their first win of the 2011 season.

If you're reading this, you probably watched the entire game on ESPN2. However, if you're writing this, you actually only saw 10-15 minutes of this 45 minute nailbiter. Why? Because the BCs lost our electricity . . . not once, not twice, but three times this evening!

Fortunately, we had power for the last few minutes of the crucial 4th quarter and all of the extra period. So while we didn't see much of the game, we saw the most exciting part. And we did listen to Rebecca Lobo's wrap up at the end, so we have a pretty good idea what we missed.

Here's what (we think) happened: the Mystics got absolutely phenomenal performances from their new post duo, Lang and Nicky. Lang finished with 30 points and Nicky added 29! Plus, they each pulled down 13 boards! Wow! And Matee poured in 24 more points! That's 83 points from just 3 players. Amazing!

But it wasn't offense alone that made the difference. After the Dream put up 22, 25 & 28 points in the first three quarters, respectively, the Mystics pulled the plug on them in the 4th quarter, holding Atlanta to a measly 10 points. That defensive effort allowed Washington to pull even at the end of regulation and then put the game away in overtime.

So the Mystics have evened their record at 1-1, and have momentum as they look forward to their home opener on Saturday, when they host the Chicago Sky at 7 PM at Verizon Center.

One final comment: in the piece of the game we actually got to see, we confess we were quite impressed with the Washington debut of Kerri Gardin. For a player whose only practice with the team was today's pre-game shootaround, she put on quite a performance. In 21 minutes off the bench, Kerri recorded 6 steals, 2 boards and a block, plus 3 points. From what we saw, she seemed to be a major contributor to the defensive effort that turned the tide in the Mystics' favor. Welcome to Washington, Kerri.