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Tierra Ruffin-Pratt (7-12 on field goals) scored a career-high 20 points, as the Mystics, holding onto a slim lead throughout the entire game, defeated a pesky Sparks squad, 84-80 on Tuesday night at Verizon Center. Emma Meesseman (9-12 field goals), who seems to be getting better every game and has quickly turned into one of the best players in the entire league, also added 20 points for the ‘Stics, who improved to 5-2 on the season and brought their home record back to .500 at 2-2.

Ruffin-Pratt, excited after her career-best performance, attributed her success to increased aggressiveness. “Starting from the beginning I was just being aggressive… I wouldn’t say [it’s] the best I’ve felt but shots were just going in and I was a lot more aggressive than I have been since I’ve been here, so I think that’s what’s getting me going.”

The hungry Sparks team played arguably their best game of the season, shooting 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc, and outrebounding the Mystics by an astounding 37-24 difference, but it wasn’t enough as they failed to slow down Ruffin-Pratt or Meesseman, who accounted for almost half of the Mystics’ offensive output. Even the return of Nneka Ogwumike couldn’t solve the Sparks’ woes, as she scored 11 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Jantel Lavender (18 points) and Temeka Johnson (17 points) led the way for the Sparks, who fell to 0-5 on the season.

Coach Thibault was impressed by Ruffin-Pratt’s overall game tonight, commenting, “We had a great performance from TRP tonight on both ends of the floor, having to guard Oguwmike for long stretches and going back at them. So, we’ll take the win and get ready for the weekend.”

The Mystics countered the Sparks offensive performance with even better one, shooting a slightly lower 47% from the field but with a remarkable 43% shooting performance from three-point range. In addition to Ruffin-Pratt and Meesseman’s big nights on the offensive end, Ivory Latta, following up a season-best 24-point performance in Indiana on Saturday, scored 13 points on 2-5 shooting from downtown. Bria Hartley had six points on 1-2 shooting in her season debut, returning from a foot injury.

In a game in which neither team ever led by double digits (Mystics led by as much as nine points in the early third quarter), the Mystics were just one point better in every quarter, and that was the difference in the game as they went on to win by four points. But it wasn’t before taking on every bit of fight the Sparks had left, as the Sparks, trailing by five with a minute to go in the game, refused to give up, continuing to claw their way back, and cut the Mystics lead down to three with the ball and 16 seconds remaining. After taking a full timeout, the Sparks drew up a play for Jennifer Lacy, who scored a season-high 14 points on 2-5 shooting from three-point range, but her corner three was a bit too long and the Mystics recovered the rebound, holding on for the victory.

The Mystics desperately needed to win this game at home, not wanting to fall even further below .500 to a winless team at a place they expect to have an advantage at throughout the course of the season. And they accomplished just that in a gutsy performance on both ends of the floor, proving this team truly is relentless.

Latta summed it up best, saying, “[This win] definitely makes us feel great. It’s always good to get a win in front of your crowd. We definitely have been needing that. We just needed to take care of our home court a little better. My favorite part of the team was how we fought out at the end and we’re looking forward to our next game on Friday.”