Alana Beard liked what she saw in Washington’s season-opener over the weekend and said three more days was exactly what she needed for her injured shoulder.
“I feel the difference. I feel good and I’m ready to go,” said Beard, who watched the Mystics’ 89-80 loss to Connecticut from the bench. She’ll make her first start of the year tonight against visiting Sacramento. “Strength-wise, I’m 100 percent. Pain-wise, it’s about 80.”
Even in defeat, Beard said she was impressed with her teammates’ individual improvements during the offseason.
“I told the girls after the game, ‘You understand that we looked really good,’” said Beard. “Our defense was together, everybody was helping each other. Offensively, we can still do a little work, but we just looked really well. The only thing that hurt us was our mental mistakes.”
The Mystics (0-1) committed eight turnovers in the final quarter against the Sun, creating an early target for improvement.
“I thought we played well in the second half, I just thought that it comes down to offensive execution and stops,” said Mystics head coach Richie Adubato. “We got the stops, but we forced some shots and we threw some passes away in the clutch. I think the last five times down the floor, we may have gotten one good shot. That’s what it’s all about … [Against Sacramento,] hopefully, we will not break down in the clutch.”
Monarchs (1-1) at Mystics (0-1)
» When: Tonight, 7:30
» Where: Verizon Center
» TV: ESPN2
