Mystics vs. Fever final score: Washington cruises to 88-70 victory

The Mystics bounced back on Sunday with a 88-70 home victory over the Indiana Fever, advancing to 7-3 on the year. Washington took control early, rushing out to an 18 point lead in the second quarter and never letting the Fever get closer than 13 through the rest of the game.

Elena Delle Donne led the way for the Mystics with 25 points in less than 26 minutes of playing time. Erica Wheeler lead the Fever with 15.

Notes from the game

A barrage of threes

The Mystics showed just how much damage they can do against teams who can’t score with them. They made 10 of their 21 threes, while Indiana only attempted 12. The spacing gave Krystal Thomas (14 points, 6-9 shooting) room to work inside. The Fever could not manufacture enough points to keep up.

Dominance on the boards

In addition to spacing, the Mystics also have size. They crushed the Fever on the boards, 43-23. Krystal Thomas did the most work, grabbing 14 boards and boxing out on countless other possessions. Tianna Hawkins added 11 of her own, and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt had 8. As a team, they rebounded a phenomenal 36% of their own misses.

Thibault experiments with small backcourt lineups

The Mystics have more players deserving of minutes than they can realistically play. It’s a good problem to have: The Mystics have offensive and defensive options at every position. Today coach Mike Thibault experimented with the small backcourt of Kristi Toliver and Ivory Latta. Neither is particularly good at defending their own position, let alone bigger wing players. And they did give up an 8-0 run to the Fever while on the floor together. Still, both play off the ball well on offense, and they generated good looks. It’s a lineup that will need to be used situationally, but it’s an interesting look for an already high powered offense.

The Mystics return next Sunday against Skylar Diggins-Smith and the Dallas Wings.