The Washington Mystics lost their season opener to the New York Liberty on Tuesday night, 85-80.
The underdog Mystics stayed in this game early on with opportunistic defense. Mystics forced the Liberty into 9 1st half turnovers (finished with 18 total). Despite the Liberty shooting 47 percent from the field in the 1st half, the turnovers allowed the Mystics to get the necessary stops to stay afloat. After a Shakira Austin 3-pointer at the end of the half, Mystics walked into the locker room with a 43-40 lead.
In the 2nd half, the Mystics came out strong, building a 8-point lead, but the game started to slip away thanks to some costly mistakes.