Hartley scores 15 points as Mystics beat Fever 79-63
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Rookie Bria Hartley scored 15 points, and Ivory Latta and Tianna Hawkins each added 11 to lead the Washington Mystics to a 79-63 victory over the Indiana Fever on Friday night.
Washington (1-1) held Indiana (0-3) to a season low 34.8 percent shooting and had a 41-31 rebounding edge.
"I thought we played really good defense from start to finish other than maybe the last 5 minutes of the game," Washington coach Mike Thibault said. "We followed the scouting report better today."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Scoring runs of 10-2 and 12-0 helped Washington take an 18-point lead at 26-10 in the first quarter.
"Confidence-wise it was good for us," Thibault said. "We were able to push the tempo and got a lot of people involved in the offense early so (Indiana) could not lock in on one or two people."
The Mystics stretched the lead to 58-34 when Hartley hit a jumper with 3:49 to play in the third quarter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Maggie Lucas scored 12 points to lead Indiana.
"I am disappointed we did not play at a higher level," Fever coach Lin Dunn said. "We did not hit our open shots. We did not box out. It was not just one thing, everything was bad. It's been a long time since I have seen a Fever team with so little effort. Washington looked like a 10 and we looked like a six."
Hartley got the starting nod in place of Latta, who had started 35-straight games since joining Washington at the start of last season. Hartley also had five assists.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"She has been playing great, she has been good," Thibault said about Hartley. "Between her, Kara (Lawson) and Ivory we can rotate three pretty good guards."