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| Holdsclaw helps Mystics give Maher first win |
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| RECAP | BOX SCORE | |||
WASHINGTON (AP) – After his first game as a WNBA coach produced
the worst offensive performance in league history, Tom Maher
desperately needed his team to show some progress.
As it turned out, his Washington Mystics won.
Chamique Holdsclaw had 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Mystics
recovered from a record 34-point effort against Cleveland to beat
the Seattle Storm 68-63 on Sunday.
"It was a huge relief for us to be competitive today," Maher
said. "I think everyone felt a bit of pressure."
Maher, the league's first foreign coach, admitted it's going to
take a while for the Mystics to adjust to the up-tempo style he
used as coach of the Australia Olympic team. His team started
ragged again – shooting just 25 percent in the first half – but at
least the plays were run more or less correctly.
"That's the first time we've run something that was a semblance
of what we're supposed to be running," Maher said. "We got some
wide open looks."
The shots started to fall in the second half. Nikki McCray
finished with 16 points, and Tonya Washington scored a career-high
12, including a 3-pointer with 3:14 remaining that put the Mystics
ahead 60-52, their biggest lead of the game.
The Mystics also held No. 1 overall draft pick Lauren Jackson to
5-of-18 shooting, mainly with the defense of Vicky Bullett. Jackson
didn't score until her 3-pointer with 3:07 to play in the first
half, and the 6-foot-5 center had three shots blocked in the first
half, two by Bullett.
Jackson, who played for Maher in Australia, finished with 13
points and seven rebounds. She admitted she was nervous facing her
old coach.
"He came up to me at the end of the game and shook my hand. He
goes, `Bad luck mate,' and I felt saying, 'Tom, I want to punch
you.' I was upset," Jackson said. "Do they come over to play us,
or is this our only game?"
Told that the Mystics will indeed go to Seattle on July 3,
Jackson clinched her fist and laughed mischievously.
"Hey, hey, hey, yeah!" she said.
Seattle's other first-round draft pick, Semeka Randall, led the
Storm with 16 points.
Seattle shot 29 percent in the first half, matching Washington's
shooting woes in a difficult 20 minutes of basketball. Layups were
missed, play was ragged, and the Mystics at one point shot air
balls on consecutive possessions.
In the second half, the teams traded the lead until Holdsclaw's
3-pointer with 10:13 to play made it 45-42 and put the Mystics
ahead for good. Washington held on the rest of the way, with
Holdsclaw making a key steal and McCray making six of eight free
throws in the final minute to preserve the victory.
"That's a bonus – if we can play that bad and lose to them by
five," Jackson said. "They've got some really good players.
That's a really good sign."
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ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard AUDIO/VIDEO   Chamique Holdsclaw makes a sweet spin move off the dribble and feathers the little jumper.avi: 994 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN Cable Modem Murriel Page makes a great look inside to Vicky Bullett for the easy layup.avi: 1110 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN Cable Modem Seattle's 6'-5" center Lauren Jackson steps out and drains the 3-pointer.avi: 1055 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN Cable Modem | |
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