Video Recap | Photos

Well, that was easy. Backed by Ivory Latta’s scorching shooting and Tayler Hill’s career performance, the Mystics jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, on way to an impressive 87-74 victory over the Storm on Wednesday afternoon at Verizon Center. In front of an electric, thunderous crowd of over 17,000, most of which were ear-splitting, sugar-high campers, the Mystics certainly did not disappoint. They shot 47.1% from the field en route to one of their best offensive performances of the year. The ‘Stics have now won four games in a row, improving to 10-6 on the season.

The game started off perfectly for the Mystics, better than Coach Thibault could’ve even dreamt, as they shot a ridiculous 72.2% from the floor, including going three of four from downtown, and outscored the Storm by 20 points, 34-14, after the first quarter. All-Stars Stefanie Dolson and Emma Meesseman, coming off their first all-star appearances on Saturday, got the scoring started for the Mystics with tough, contested layups to give the ‘Stics an early advantage. And that’s all the team would need.

Coach Thibault could get used to this kind of start to a game, saying, “It’s a win. Fast start… Teams are too good to keep at that pace for a whole game…but I thought for a good portion of both the first and third quarters we played great offense…That’s huge.”

After that, Ivory Latta came off the bench and immediately hit two deep threes, and that, combined with the return of imposing center Kia Vaughn, playing in just her second game of the year after suffering a concussion early on in the season, was evidently too much for the Storm to handle. Vaughn’s presence was a welcome addition to the Mystics’ already stout backcourt combo of Dolson and Meesseman, and the dynamic trio gave the Mystics the early rebounding advantage, 13-4, after the first quarter, as well as the overall rebounding advantage at the end of the game, 36-33.

Latta played it cool when talking about her superb performance, noting, “I’m out here to do my job. If they need me to bring energy off the bench then that’s what I’m going to do. That’s my job so that’s what I’m going to do.”

But her performance, as well as Vaughn’s and the entire bench’s for that matter, did not go unnoticed by Coach Thibault. He stated after the game, “I thought [Kia] was great for her first game. I mean she obviously takes up size in the lane, I think she bothered people, physical on the boards…The hardest part now is figuring out minutes for everybody!”

After leading at halftime by a score of 53-37, the Mystics played tight defense in the third quarter, limiting the Storm to a meager 13 points. Then the fourth quarter came, and the Tayler Hill show began. She added nine of the team’s 18 points in the quarter on 50% shooting and single-handily shut the door on the Storm, adding the metaphorical cherry on top to a great Mystics outing. Hill finished the game with a career-high of 18 points on 40% shooting both overall and from three-point range.

She was all smiles after the game, commenting on the team’s performance, “It was good…We got that rustiness out of us when we first came back. We started out at a fast pace and we only had six turnovers today as a team, which is great. Coach talked about this whole few extra days, not to give up extra possessions and turn the ball over so it’s good to know that we only had six.”

Latta and Hill weren’t without help however, as this victory was the epitome of a true team effort. The aforementioned Dolson, in something that has now become commonplace, added 17 points and nine rebounds while playing stellar defense all game long. Additionally, veteran leader Kara Lawson scored nine points on four of nine shooting from the field, adding a stabilizing factor and presence for the ‘Stics throughout. Star Emma Meesseman was surprisingly limited to only five points on relatively poor shooting, yet found other ways to contribute to the victory with seven rebounds and two blocks. Latoya Sanders added a team-high four blocks in the win.

Dolson pointed out postgame just how important every player is to the team’s overall success. “Our bench is our biggest asset. We have one of the deepest benches in the league. Every one of us can go out there and score 15 to 20 points… Everyone just played well together tonight. We had a lot of great chemistry, a lot of good passes on our offense tonight. So I’m happy with the way we played and we just gotta keep chugging along!”

The Mystics have seemingly all but forgotten about the rough three-game stretch they went through at the beginning of July, as now, winners of their last four games, they have shot up the Eastern Conference standings and sit only a game and a half back of the first-place Liberty.

The Mystics hope to keep chugging along and keep their momentum rolling as they hit the road to take on the Stars in San Antonio this Friday evening at 8 p.m.