‘Same thing every game’: Aces can’t catch up in loss to Mystics — PHOTOS
What Chelsea Gray once called “uncharted territory” is starting to seem like the norm for the Aces.
The point guard used that phrase to describe the feeling of a blowout loss to the Golden State Valkyries on June 7, adding that the showing “wasn’t an Aces team we are used to seeing.”
Now, after a 94-83 loss to the Washington Mystics on Thursday at Michelob Ultra Arena, the Aces have fallen under .500 for the fourth time this season, and even one of Gray’s teammates could acknowledge that it’s starting to feel like déjà vu.
“It’s so repetitive. It’s the same thing every game. That’s the frustrating part,” reserve guard Dana Evans said in a frustrated rant following the defeat.
Evans was a spark off the bench, finishing with 12 points. She scored nine of those in the third quarter to lead the reserves as Aces coach Becky Hammon finally made good on a threat to bench her starters in an attempt to mitigate the team’s second-half woes.
But the Aces’ 22-point deficit in the third quarter was too much to overcome after the Mystics opened the frame with a 9-0 run to take a 62-44 lead. The Aces scored a game-low 17 points in the period.
A’ja Wilson was the high scorer for the Aces (7-8) with 22 points. Navigating the worst start to a season since her rookie year in 2018, the three-time WNBA MVP didn’t speak postgame.
Jackie Young scored 13 points, 11 of which came in the first quarter, which the Aces ended with a 29-25 disadvantage. Gray also scored 13 and Jewell Loyd added 11 — not enough production from the decorated group of guards, all of whom are multi-time All-Stars and Olympic gold medalists.
“We lost every quarter but that fourth quarter,” Gray said. “And a lot of that was just because our bench came in and competed and did a great job.”
In the stretch Gray referenced, the Aces accounted for the first nine points of the final quarter before cutting the deficit to seven points in the final two minutes.
Rookie Sonia Citron had 21 points for the Mystics (8-8), who were without Brittney Sykes for the second straight game with a right lower leg injury. They became even more short-handed when guard Jade Melbourne exited in the first quarter and did not return after taking an accidental elbow to the face from Gray that sent Melbourne’s tooth flying out of her mouth and counted as a flagrant foul for the Aces.
The Mystics also benefited from Lucy Olsen coming off the bench to score 14 points, contributing to the Aces’ bench getting outscored 29-20.
Although the Mystics entered the matchup averaging 5.5 3-pointers per game, they went 10 of 19 (52.6 percent) from deep.
“Everybody has a great game against us. Everybody shoots the ball good against us,” Evans said.
Gray added: “They’re getting wide-open looks. I mean credit to them, they’re a professional (team), they’re going to knock down shots. So we got to be better defensively. … But I think there’s so many moments where they’re just wide open and miscommunications are happening.”
The game marked the end of a four-game homestand for the Aces in which they went 2-2.
In a brief postgame news conference, Hammon simply offered the words “not good” when asked for her evaluation of the series of home matchups.
“My frustration has been seeing greatness in moments, and seeing absolute disaster in moments,” Hammon said in a later answer. “There’s kind of no in between.”
The Aces next play at the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday in the start of a five-game road trip. Hammon didn’t bother to feign optimism about that stretch either.
“I’m talking about basic stuff,” Hammon said. “Number one, compete. Compete hard. Know your job, do your job. Then I’m talking about screening people. Screen when you’re on offense, go hit somebody. When you’re on defense, go hit somebody. Go block out. In pick-and-roll, if somebody goes under, rescreen them.
“I mean, it seems very elementary. … That’s why we’ll continue to drown here in two feet of water.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.