Dream 86, Mystics 79, OT

Crystal Langhorne compared this loss to the one Washington suffered against Seattle on May 25. Both were games that got away and there was no hiding from that reality after the Mystics watched Atlanta outscore them 34-19 in the fourth quarter and overtime for an 86-79 win Saturday night.

"It's just like the Seattle game (a 82-76 loss)," Langhorne said. "Just being up, thinking you have control of the game and losing it because you lost focus on the little things."

The discussion in the locker room among the Mystics' primary post players - Langhorne, Nakia Sanford and Chasity Melvin - was lively as all three considered their rebounding efforts a disappointment against Atlanta's twin towers of Sancho Lyttle and Erika de Souza. It's something they know must improve for their next three meetings with the Dream in the regular season.

Lyttle and de Souza hauled in 17 and 11 rebounds respectively, while no Washington post had more than eight (both Langhorne and Melvin). Perhaps more important than the quantity though, was the timing. Atlanta's duo combined for 10 rebounds in a crucial fourth-quarter effort for the Dream.

"I definitely thought we couldn't put it to them," Langhorne said. "We had some turnovers, couldn't get those offensive rebounds, they went to the glass and we wound up losing because of it. DeSouza's huge so you just try to push her back and get out of the way because she's tipping it to herself. And Sancho, she's such a good leaper you have to get her away from the basket. We couldn't do either really."

The Mystics' defensive system often requires the posts to leave the paint and help out on covering the opposing guards. Against rebounders like Lyttle and de Souza though, that left Washington vulnerable as Atlanta scored on uncontested put-backs.

"It's hard against them because they have good guards and you want to go help out but to do that and be able to get back and box out successfully is tough," Sanford said. "I don't think I did a good job of helping and then being able to recover back to the post."

Said Melvin: "I think we were in there battling with them but it's difficult when they stay in the paint all the time. ...Our defense is to help the guards and they see that; that our posts are out of position. When you have two great rebounders you can't help as much and then expect to get the rebound. It's ok against teams that don't rebound against de Souza and Lyttle, but when they do have players like that you're a dead man."

While rebounding was certainly key, the Mystics killer instinct also needs fine tuning. After a quarter that saw Washington not take a single foul or commit a single turnover while building a 10-point lead, the Mystics must find a way to not have all of those elements reverse in a six minute span.

Because in the fourth everything the turnovers came at the worst possible time, the missed offensive rebounds sprung Iziane Castro Marques, who had 10 of her 19 points in the frame, and allowed Atlanta to force overtime.

"The major thing in this league," Melvin said "is when you've got that kind of lead on a team you've got to do something with it. They're a good team, they're going to come back but if we put more pressure on them when we had the lead they're the type of team that could get frustrated."

While Atlanta's momentum lasted into the overtime, Washington also missed on its fair share of opportunities. In the game's final 15 seconds, shots by Lindsey Harding, Katie Smith and Monique Currie all missed their target.

As many of you may have noticed, Smith's shot has been off the mark in the start of this season. Against Atlanta, the veteran guard shot a dismal 2 of 13 from field goal range, including a glaring 0 of 6 on attempts behind the arc. She's 22 of 60 or 36.6 percent through seven games this season.

"I haven't totally felt real smooth with it but they've been great looks," Smith said. "That's what's the most frustrating with it because you're getting great looks and you want them to go down so bad so you can help out. I'm just going to have to keep going though, sometimes those shots can help open people up. But the fact that they're good looks, that's what drives me crazy right now."