Even when Alana Beard, in familiar fashion, had all but sealed another dramatic victory for the Washington Mystics, this time a 97-96 overtime win over Seattle, Lauren Jackson still had one more 3-pointer left in her, one that would clinch the Storm center’s spot in the WNBA record books.
Beard scored Washington’s final seven points, including a fadeaway jumpshot with six seconds remaining in the extra period, but the night belonged to the 6-foot-5 Australian, who bested her own league-record with 18 field goals and matched the WNBA’s single-game scoring record with 47 points in front of 7,036 at Verizon Center.
“Nobody told us we had to play against Dirk Nowitzki,” said Mystics head coach Tree Rollins.
Jackson made 16 of her first 20 shots, but facing double-teams down the stretch, she converted just two of her final eight field goal attempts.
“When you have a hot hand, what can you do defensively but just try to contest and make each possession difficult for her,” said Washington’s DeLisha Milton-Jones (22 points). “But she is a guard in a post player’s body, and she’s capable of doing anything and everything out there on the basketball court.”
With 2:14 left in overtime, Jackson was stripped by Beard (team-high 27 points), who then converted a miss by Monique Currie (23 points, 11 rebounds) to give Washington a 92-90 lead.
“It was just a matter of knowing what they were doing in their offense,” said Beard. “I knew the play was for Lauren to come off a screen from the other post, and she was going to have her back turned to me.”
Moments later, Beard blocked Seattle guard Sue Bird (12 points) and put the Mystics (10-13) ahead for good with a 3-pointer from the corner.
Jackson tied Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi for the scoring record and cut the deficit to one on a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left, but the Storm (12-12) wouldn’t get another possession.
“If we had won,” said Jackson, “I probably would go out until six o’clock in the morning and celebrate it. But I’m going home. It’s just frustrating.”
