Gameday: Mystics at Silver Stars

Washington won't have it easy as it tries to avoid dropping its third-straight contest to stop the slide to a .500 record tonight in San Antonio. Reeling from a 68-63 loss to Chicago this past Friday, the Mystics need to find some consistency. They established an initial advantage against the Sky, solving the slow start problem they had in previous games, but they wound up clinging to a precarious lead and struggled to fully seize control of the game.

Tipoff: 8 p.m., AT&T Center
There is no television broadcast for this game and there is also no LiveAccess as the Silver Stars opted to not participate in the program.

What To Watch For

*San Antonio is a perfect 3-0 at the AT&T Center this season, with all of their losses coming on the road. Don't put too much stock in that .500 record though, two of the Silver Stars' three losses came without point guard Becky Hammon, who missed those contests to play for Russia in the European women's basketball championships.

*By no means is a 4-3 record something to panic about, but Washington has some truths to face right now. Chief among them is that their pair of veteran post players, Chasity Melvin and Nakia Sanford, cannot play a combined 70 minutes and only contribute six points and 11 rebounds between them like they did in Friday's 68-63 loss to Chicago. They've both had fair showings this season but they seem to consistently pair with a poor outing. There's no hiding that the front court player who has proven most effective so far is second-year Crystal Langhorne.

*That said, a seven man rotation appears to be wearing on the Mystics a bit. They obviously miss the energy and stats of Marissa Coleman, but three players on the 11-man roster -- point guard Nikki Blue, center Tasha Humphrey and forward Kristen Mann -- average no more than 8.3 minutes per game. Blue has appeared in just two contests and Mann made her debut against the Sky.

Probable Starters

For Washington: PG Lindsey Harding, G Alana Beard, F Monique Currie, F Nakia Sanford and C Chasity Melvin.

For San Antonio: PG Becky Hammon, G Helen Darling, F Sophia Young, F Vickie Johnson and C Ruth Riley.

By Katie Carrera  |  June 30, 2009; 9:11 AM ET
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Posted by: PurpleFan | June 30, 2009 10:23 AM

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