SUPER BOWL 2012

Tonight at the Verizon Center, the Mystics finally put an end to their 9-game losing streak, as they upset the Atlanta Dream, 85-81.



The Dream, currently in 4th place in the tightly contested (that is, if you exclude the Mystics) Eastern Conference, arrived at the Phone Booth hoping to solidify their playoff position (and possibly gain some ground on the teams ahead of them in the standings). Instead, the Mystics played the role of spoiler.



In front of a sparse but enthusiastic crowd, Washington pulled ahead late in the final period, and sent the Dream home to Atlanta with another loss.



The fans at the Phone Booth had another reason to smile . . . the return of Mo Currie. With about 2 minutes left in the first quarter, Mo made her first appearance since last season. As our readers know, Mo tore an ACL playing overseas during the WNBA's off season, and underwent surgery early this year. She was greeted with cheering and a standing ovation when she entered the game. Mo played only 10 minutes, but given that she was playing her first WNBA game in nearly a year and playing on a surgically repaired knee, the BCs -- and others in the arena -- were impressed. Mo scored 8 points and pulled down 3 rebounds during her brief stint on the court.



Of course, without Old Faithful, Crystal Langhorne, the Mystics' losing streak wouldn't now be in the rear view mirror. Lang led Washington (once again) with 25 points and 10 boards. (She never ceases to amaze us!) Crystal got significant help this evening from Matee, who scored 19 points off the bench, 11 of them in the final period. And the aggressive play of rookie Jasmine Thomas (12 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds) also contributed greatly to the Mystics' win.



For the second game in a row, GM/HC Trudi tried a different starting line-up. Tonight, Trudi started Jasmine and Kelly, along with Kerri Gardin, Lang and DeMya. Matee subbed in along with Mo, but played extended minutes, while Mo's minutes, by necessity, were limited.



Speaking of limited . . . what the heck's going on with Marissa? As she did in Minny, Marissa spent most of tonight's game on the bench in her warm up suit. She entered the game late in the 3rd period, played a total of 8 minutes, missed one shot, committed one foul, but otherwise recorded zeros in her stat line. Is she hurt, sick . . . or just in Trudi's doghouse? In any event, she was pretty much a non-factor in tonight's victory.



The Mystics and the Dream will both be catching a flight (hopefully not the same one) to Atlanta tonight or in the morning. The same two teams play each other again tomorrow in Philips Arena. (WNBA scheduling drives the BCs nuts!) This means the Mystics will have another chance to play spoiler, and the Dream will have another chance to keep their playoff hopes alive . . . just in another venue, tomorrow (Friday) at 7:30 PM.