Mystics-Liberty Preview

While the Washington Mystics have bounced back nicely from a season-opening defeat, the New York Liberty are still searching to end their lengthy losing streak.

The visiting Mystics aim for a third consecutive victory while trying to hand the Liberty a 17th consecutive loss Friday night.

Minus star Elena Delle Donne (knee soreness), Washington (2-1) opened the season with an 84-69 loss at Connecticut. With her back in the lineup, the Mystics then beat Atlanta and Chicago by a combined 39 points.

Kristi Tolliver (13.3 points per game) had 19 points with six assists and Delle Donne (15.0 ppg) scored 12 as Washington used a 24-8 second-quarter spurt to drop the visiting Chicago Sky 103-85 on Wednesday night. Both clubs made half of their field-goal attempts, but the Sky committed 17 turnovers.

And for the third straight game, every Mystics player who saw action, scored. At least nine members of the Washington roster are averaging at least 5 points.

"We have a lot of good players on our team and we're a very, very deep team," Tolliver, one of five Mystics averaging 10 or more points, said on the club's official Twitter page. "We share the ball really well and have people in the right positions.

"It's good to see everybody contributing at a high level."

New York (0-3), on the other hand, has managed to compete relatively well through the first three games, but has not been able to make it over the top yet in 2019. The Liberty lost their opener on a last-second layup against Indiana, then were roughed up by the Fever in their second game.

On Tuesday, New York led by five points with just over 4 minutes to play in the game, but allowed Los Angeles to score the next 10 points en route to a 78-73 home defeat. The Liberty had a chance to tie the game late, but Tina Charles' 3-point attempt bounced off the rim.

"Tough one," Liberty coach Katie Smith said. "Best effort of the season out of three games. We had a lot of opportunities to finish (the game) off."

Though New York's most recent victory came against Chicago on July 15, Tina Charles (22.7 ppg, 11 rebounds per game) continues to shine early in 2019. The Liberty star had 21 points to become the club's all-time leading scorer in her 10th WNBA season, and also pulled down 14 boards Tuesday.

"It means a whole lot," said Charles, who hails from Queens. "This franchise means the world to me, so for that to happen, I would've never imagined it. I'm just grateful to be able to play in my city."

The Liberty were swept during the three-game season series with Washington in 2018.