Kayla McBride wasn't interested in excuses. Yes, the last 24 hours had been hard. But it's a fact:
"You have to score to win," she said. "And we didn't do that."
Same for Aerial Powers. "We just have to shoot better," she said. "The perimeter players, we have to provide more. We just have to be better."
Sunday in Washington the Lynx were playing their fourth game in six days. They were coming off a travel nightmare Saturday that, thanks to a flight cancellation and a scheduling headache, took them 12 hours to go from Indianapolis to D.C. The players didn't get to their hotels until 1 a.m., 13 hours before Sunday tipoff.
Whether it was that or Washington's stifling defense, the fact is the Lynx scored a season low in points in losing 70-57 to the Mystics. After leading the WNBA in scoring and offensive rating while going 7-3 over their previous 10 games, the Minnesota offense stalled in the nation's capital.
"We had a decent first quarter," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "We made some shots. And then it got more difficult for us."
The Lynx shot 22-for-66 overall, 4-for-20 on three-pointers. After taking a 17-13 lead after a quarter, Minnesota (10-17) shot 14-for-48, 29.2% while being swept in the season series by the Mystics (16-11), who held Minnesota to 66, 59 and 57 points in three games.
Even with the travel difficulties, the Lynx played strong defense. They held Washington to 37.7% shooting and its second-lowest point total this season. It was the fifth time in six games the Lynx have held an opponent under 40%. Since the start of the 2011 season Minnesota is 140-6 when it does that. But two of those six losses have come this season.