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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Washington Mystics got the message
from new coach Darrell Walker a little too late.
|  | | Walker's pen did not script this outcome |
All-Star guard Andrea Stinson scored 22 of her 24 points over
the first 24 minutes as the Charlotte Sting jumped to a 16-point
lead and held on for a 76-73 victory over the Mystics.
Walker warned his players before the game that stopping the
Charlotte backcourt of Stinson and Dawn Staley was the key.
But Stinson and Staley, who scored 14 of her 17 points in the
first half, proved to be too quick and too strong for
Washington.
Stinson added six rebounds and five assists, and Staley
contributed seven assists.
Stinson hit a 3-pointer, a fastbreak layup and short jumper
after an offensive rebound in the Sting's 9-0 run to open the
second half, which gave them a 50-34 lead with 18:03 left in the
game.
The Mystics went on an 11-2 charge to pull within 71-68 on
All-Star Chamique Holdsclaw's fastbreak layup with 1:46 to go,
but Staley answered with a layup -- her first basket in the
second half.
"Their style of play was just double-teaming everywhere," Staley
said. "We've never seen that kind of pressure before. We gave
in a little bit and lost the lead, but at the end I think we
kept our composure.
"At the end of the game I took it upon myself to start
penetrating," she added. "If you get by those first key
defenders, you have numbers."
All-Star starter Nikki McCray's layup cut the lead to 73-70 with
1:08 left, but Staley fed Stinson for a layup and the Sting
again had a five-point lead.
Former Sting forward Vicky Bullett nailed a 3-pointer, pulling
Washington within 75-73 with 16 seconds left, and the Mystics
fouled Staley with 7.9 seconds to go.
Staley hit one of two from the line, and Holdsclaw badly missed
a 3-pointer with less than a second left.
"I think we were hesitant at the end, no one wanted to take the
shot," Stinson said. "We had to regroup and come back and say
we've just got to go for the win, go to the basket."
Bullett led Washington with 22 points and eight rebounds. McCray
scored 19 and Holdsclaw added 14 and eight rebounds.
"When I came back in (after going out with five fouls), we were
down by 15 and we just started trapping," McCray said. "We
thought we could get back in the basketball game if we just
trapped. We started trapping, came up with a couple of steals
and that was the key."
Staley scored 10 points and Stinson eight over the first 15
minutes of the game, leading Charlotte to a 30-21 lead. The
Sting hit 12 of their first 19 shots.
Andrea Nagy hit a 3-pointer and a follow layup, Bullett had a
block and rookie Keisha Anderson had a steal in a 10-2 run
capped by Bullett's baseline jumper that brought the Mystics
within 32-31 with 2:32 left in the half. Most of the run came
after McCray went to the bench with her third foul.
The Sting appeared to be headed for their fifth turnover in five
minutes before Stinson drilled a desperation 3-pointer from the
top of the arc as the shot clock was winding down.
That started the Sting on a 9-4 surge over the final two minutes
of the half, and Charlotte took a 41-34 lead into the locker
room.
The Mystics have dropped nine of their last 13 games --
including six straight at home -- after a 5-3 start and are
battling Detroit for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Walker, the director of player personnel for the NBA Washington
Wizards, was named interim coach of the Mystics on Friday after
Nancy Darsch resigned.
"I like Darrell because he's very energetic," said Holdsclaw,
whose disagreements with Darsch hit the media in Washington.
"He's like, 'Go out there and work hard. You need a sub -- come
out -- then go back in.' He makes it easy. He definitely has a
lot of energy and knowledge of the game."
The Sting snapped their losing streak at four games but have
dropped nine of their last 11 overall. It appears likely the
Sting will miss the playoffs for the first time.
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
Darsch quits as Mystics coach
RECAPS
Charlotte 76
Washington 73
Cleveland 79
Indiana 55
Utah 75
Sacramento 69
Los Angeles 58
Minnesota 57
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Dawn Staley dishes in the paint to Andrea Stinson for the layup.
avi: 469 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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