Mystics continue their awful start

NEW YORK (AP) Shameka Christon scored 16 points to lead the New York Liberty to a 79-69 victory over the winless Washington Mystics last night.

Cathrine Kraayeveld and Janel McCarville had 11 points each, and Barbara Farris added 10 to help New York (6-2) snap a two-game losing streak.

DeLisha Milton-Jones had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Alana Beard added 17 points for Washington (0-8), off to the worst start in franchise history.

Farris was fouled off the ball while Thorn shot a 3 and completed the four-point play with 7:13 left to give the Liberty a 73-51 lead, their biggest advantage of the game.

New York came in shooting a league-best 46 percent on 3s but finished 5-for-20 against the Mystics.

After opening the season with six of eight at home, the Liberty play seven of the next nine on the road starting with a contest at Chicago on Friday night.

Jessica Davenport’s layup pushed the Liberty’s lead to 51-33 with 7:20 left in the third quarter.

Nikki Teasley then hit a 3-pointer for Washington that started an 11-3 run and cut the Mystics’ deficit to 10 with four minutes left in the quarter. However, New York used an 8-0 run to return the lead back to 18 with 1:32 left in the third.

The Liberty took control with a 14-2 run in the final seven minutes of the first the quarter. Farris‘ three-point play with 6.1 seconds left in the period made it 20-8.

New York led 43-25 at halftime, shooting 44 percent from the field and hitting 12 of 16 free throws. Washington shot just 26 percent (8-for-30) from the field in the first two quarters.