TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The Washington Mystics used balanced scoring, good shooting and solid rebounding to get another road win.
Emma Meesseman and Ivory Latta scored 15 points each to lead the Mystics to a 91-74 victory over the Tulsa Shock on Saturday night.
Kara Lawson had 14 points, Kia Vaughn added 12 points and 10 rebounds, Monique Currie had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and rookie Stefanie Dolson also scored 11 points to help Washington (9-12) get its second straight road victory.
“Balanced scoring is important for us,” Washington coach Mike Thibault said. “We need a collective effort there.”
Latta made a 3-pointer and Vaughn had a layup to give the Mystics a 55-42 lead at the break. Washington shot 57 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes before finishing at 49 percent.
“A big key for us also is rebounding the ball and limiting their offensive rebounds,” Thibault added. “Keeping Courtney Paris off the boards was big for us.”
Paris, who leads the WNBA in rebounding, finished with only four boards.
Glory Johnson had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Tulsa (7-14), which has lost six straight at home. Skylar Diggins added 16 points. The Shock shot just 39 percent from the field.
“We just didn’t play with a lot of energy tonight,” Tulsa coach Fred Williams said. “We missed free throws and the rebounding (difference) was crucial. We just need to regroup and have a day to get our legs under us.”
Lawson scored five points in a 13-2 run that gave the Mystics a 43-33 lead with 5:01 to play in the second quarter. Meesseman had a layup and a three-point play to extend the advantage to 50-40 with 57.3 seconds to go in the first half.
Odyssey Sims had a bank shot and Courtney Paris made a free throw to pull the Shock to 62-57 with 4:03 remaining in the third. However Currie made a 3, Vaughn had a jumper and Dolson a layup over the next 92 seconds to push Washington’s lead back to double digits, 69-57.
Jordan Hooper’s 3 cut Tulsa’s deficit to 71-62 with 1:34 to go in the third, but Lawson closed the period with a layup and two free throws and Washington led by double digits the rest of the way.
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