The Washington Mystics won their first WNBA title on Thursday night, beating the Connecticut Sun 89-78 in game five. The Mystics trailed by nine in the third quarter and went on a run to close the gap to two points by the end of the third quarter.
The Mystics went on to outscore the Sun 27-14 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the victory. The Sun’s Alyssa Thomas scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Jonquel Jones scored 25 points and nine rebounds. But it was not enough for Connecticut to get the win.
Mystics head coach Mike Thibault, the WNBA winningest coach with 336 wins, captures his first WNBA Championship. The Mystics had a lot of key players to help them win the game, here are few of them:
Emma Meesseman
Meesseman has been a beast in this year’s WNBA playoffs. She scored 22 points on 9-13 shooting from the field off the bench. She also grabbed three rebounds. When the Mystics were down, Meesseman scored 11 points in the third quarter to get them back in the game. She did not play last season in the WNBA, and with the victory, she took the WNBA Finals MVP.
Elena Delle Donne
The WNBA MVP scored 21 points on 8 out of 16 shooting; she also added nine rebounds. Delle Donne played most of the series with a herniated disk in her back. She helped key an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter with four points.
Kristi Toliver
Toliver showed her championship experience the whole series, she scored 18 points and dished out four assists. Toliver also grabbed four rebounds. She played 38 total minutes in the game the most of any player.
Natasha Cloud
Cloud continued her solid play scoring 18 points on 6 out of 11 shooting. She also hit two three-pointers in the game. Cloud grabbed five rebounds, and three assists in the game. Cloud was a solid player for the Mystics all series; she did a little bit of everything for them on both sides of the floor.
