Twenty-five points, and sixteen of them late
Georgia Amoore waited until the fourth quarter to take Thursday’s game apart. Sixteen of her 25 points came in the final period, along with three of her six 3-pointers, and Washington walked out of Phoenix with an 80-73 win that had looked improbable eight minutes earlier.
The Mystics trailed by 10 at that stage. They closed on a 27-10 run. Both the point total and the 3-point total were career highs for the guard, who spent all of 2025 rehabbing a torn ACL in her right knee after going sixth overall in the draft.
“Times like tonight it shows us a journey,” Amoore said. “But that’s been us the whole season, right? Like we found a way to get through it.”
Try it for $0.99.
Five games left, two seeds in play
The win pushed Washington to 24-15 and into sole possession of sixth place. Indiana sits a game ahead at 25-14. Atlanta holds fourth at 25-13, a game and a half clear. Five games remain, and the Mystics have won 16 of their last 22, which is why a top-four seed is a live conversation rather than a stretch.
Rebounding is the reason the gap looks bridgeable. Washington leads the league in both total rebounding and rebound margin, with Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin doing the work inside. Iriafen collected her 19th double-double against the Mercury, 20 points and 12 boards.
That matters on Friday. The Sparks were beaten 78-71 by Atlanta on Monday in a game where Angel Reese pulled down 26 rebounds, a WNBA record.
Los Angeles arrives in freefall
The Sparks are 13-25 and have lost 14 of 17 since the second week of July. Kelsey Plum, their leading scorer, was traded to Phoenix at the deadline. Nneka Ogwumike, playing out the final season of an 11-time All-Star career, is averaging 16.8 points and 8.9 rebounds and put up 27 points and 16 rebounds against the Dream.
“What I do have left, I’m pouring into these last few games,” Ogwumike said. Washington and Los Angeles have split their two meetings this season.
Discover the rest of our WNBA news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply