July 11th 2018 Washington D.C.- The Washington Mystics fell 106-89 to the Atlanta Dream Wednesday afternoon in front of a crowd 11354 screaming children on what was “Camp Day” for the Washington club.

The game started well for the Mystics, Within four minutes the home team was leading 12-4 and had 100% success on their first five shots of the game. The quick start forced Atlanta to take a timeout early in hopes of salvaging the game after their slow start. The timeout turned the tables, and atlanta began  to play with more purpose which aided them in their quest to chip away at Washingtons early lead. The Mystics continued to falter defensively, and the quarter ended with a fading buzzer beating three pointer from the Dream’s Alex Bentley which gave the visitors a slim 29-27 lead heading into the second. Most notably in the first, Washington veteran Kristy oliver collected her 1000th career assist for the Mystics; an achievement that was harped upon after the game by head coach Mike Tebow and teammate Tiana Hawkins.

The second quarter saw the home side slide to 10 points back, a marker which they would not close before the games end. The Mystics defense continued to leak at every opportunity as Atlanta forward’s  Angel McCoughtry and Jessica Breland drove the score up. Playing their fourth game in a week; the Mystics showed fatigue and sluggishness in the quarter; despite taking two timeouts they were still unable to find any sort of energy. It was a theme that would end up reverberating throughout the afternoon.

The second half was more of the same; Atlanta drove offensively and Washington was unable to stop them of the defensive end. After the game Mike Tebow credited the travel and condensed schedule for the teams disappointing performance; saying he thinks the league could have done a better job at scheduling but that he understands the complications around the issue. Tebow also went on to explain how the World Cup and Capital One Centre’s renovation has caused the schedule to become even more condensed. ‘

The Mystics will get another shot at the Dream when they face them in Atlanta on sunday; but first the Washington side will have to get through the 10th place Chicago Sky. A team which Tebow called “ a totally different monster.”  The Chicago game will certainly be circled in the calender of Elena Delle Donne as she returns to face her former team for the first time this season.