Mystics vs. Wings final score: Washington loses 94-86 after blowing early lead

The Washington Mystics team jumped up to a 10-point first quarter lead over the Dallas Wings but ultimately collapsed in the second half to fall by a final score of — inside the Entertainment and Sports Arena on Friday night. With the loss, Washington moved to 3-1 on the season.

Elena Delle Donne scored twice out of the gate with a layup and three until Alysha Clark could follow it up with a layup. Dallas’s Isabelle Harrison answered with a turnaround hook shot but Ariel Atkins made a triple to give Washington a 18-10 lead. The Mystics wouldn’t look back the rest of the half.

Delle Donne and Atkins scored inside and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough hit a layup to give Washington a 24-12 lead with 4:49 remaining. Delle Donne dominated the first half in particular by scoring inside and being a factor on defense. She rebounded three shots in the first half, including a high-flying rebound that landed in front of the Washington bench and her teammates stood up and cheered on the forward.

Later in the half, Delle Donne scored on another 3-pointer. Tiannis Hawkins then made another layup inside to lift Washington to a 38-23 lead at the 5:07 mark.

Hines-Allen entered after the timeout and got a rebound on her first play which led to free throws to boost the lead to 39-32. It took until the 3:34 mark, but Arike Ogunbowale scored her first three of the game on a right-wing triple.

The Mystics went into the half with a 44-41 lead over Dallas.

Out of the half, Atkins missed from three and Allisha Gray hit a three on the other end for Dallas. Harrison then mimicked that effort to whittle Washington’s lead down to nothing, forcing Mike Thibault to call a timeout just 92 seconds into the second half.

It was all downhill from there.

Dallas went into a tight woman-to-woman defense and Washington had six turnovers in the third quarter as the Wings whittled Washington’s 3-point halftime lead by the 4:51 mark.

After Ogunbowale scored inside and Rui Machida made a layup, Ogunbowale hit a three to give Dallas a 57-50 lead, it’s largest lead of the game. Walker-Kimbrough responded with a triple to cut the lead 57-53.

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Both teams traded buckets down the stretch and a Hawkins layup made it 84-73 with 3:42 remaining. Machida made a three to get it to 86-76 with 3:09 to play. A Harrison free throw made it a 11-point game with 2:05 to go.

A Hawkins layup made it a nine-point game with 2:05 remaining. Atkins made three free throws late to make the loss appear closer, but ultimately Washington came up short after failing to protect its 10-point lead after the first quarter.