Mystics vs. Fire: Sonia Citron Scores 32 as Washington Wins 124-123 in 4 OTs, Tying WNBA's Longest Game

Carla Leite banked in a 25-footer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation on Sunday, and all 4,200 people at CareFirst Arena figured they had just seen the wildest ending of the season. They had actually just seen the first of five.

After three hours and 35 minutes of real, measurable time, the Washington Mystics finally finished off the Portland Fire 124-123 in four overtimes, matching the longest game the league has ever played. The only other one was Washington's 72-69 win over Seattle on July 3, 2001. On Sunday, both teams had passed 72 with more than four minutes left in regulation. Sonia Citron scored 32, including the basket that finally decided it with 21.4 seconds to go in the fourth extra period, and then everybody presumably lay down on the floor.

Regulation Was Just the Trailer

The opening acts were wild enough on their own. Washington ripped off nine straight in the first quarter to go up 14-4 and later led 23-11. Portland responded with 13 straight in under a minute and a half to go ahead 24-23, and it was 31-28 Fire after one.

Portland led 55-48 at halftime, then scored 12 in the third while Washington used an 8-0 run to tie it at 58. It was 67-62 going to the fourth. Citron took over late, with four straight free throws turning an 80-77 deficit into an 81-80 lead. Kiki Iriafen and Michaela Onyenwere pushed it along, and Citron's two more at the line with 14.1 seconds left made it 87-84. Then Leite did the thing with the backboard.

Four Overtimes, One Long Argument

The first overtime was the best of them. Onyenwere opened with a 3, Portland scored seven straight to go up 94-90, and Washington came all the way back. Onyenwere's 26-footer with 24.3 seconds left made it 99-96, and Leite hit a 24-footer six seconds later. Of course she did.

The second overtime looked like what happens when legs quit. The teams combined for eight points. Sarah Ashlee Barker's two straight baskets gave Portland a 103-101 lead, and Citron tied it on a drive with 14.9 seconds left.

Then, somehow, the third overtime turned into a shootout, 13 points each. Alicia Florez scored twice off the bench, Leite hit a 27-footer, and Citron's free throw made it 116-114 with 11.4 seconds left. Bridget Carleton tied it on a 15-foot turnaround with 3.4 on the clock.

The fourth was all layups and exhaustion. The teams traded baskets until Citron scored off a Shakira Austin pass at 47.2 seconds, Leite answered at 34.9, and Citron scored off another Austin feed at 21.4 for a 124-122 lead. Leite got to the line with 13.1 seconds left and made only the first of two. Nobody scored again, which had started to feel impossible.

Everybody Needs a Nap

Citron played 53 minutes, finished 9-of-20 with six rebounds and four assists, and went 13-of-14 at the line, a career high for made free throws per the Mystics. Yes, she also had eight turnovers. In 53 minutes, you're allowed. Onyenwere set career highs with 30 points and six 3-pointers on nine attempts. Iriafen had a career-high 27 with 11 rebounds and six assists before finishing with six fouls.

According to the AP, no team in league history had ever gotten at least 27 points from three different players in one game. The team says the trio's 89 combined points tie for the second-highest total by three teammates in WNBA history. Florez added a career-high five steals off the bench, and Cotie McMahon's five points included that tying layup in the last overtime.

Leite was magnificent in defeat: 32 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals in 48 minutes, plus that bank shot. Barker scored 25 on 10-of-16 shooting, and Megan DiLeo had 20 with four 3s. Emily Engstler grabbed 11 rebounds with three blocks, and Frieda Buhner and Nyadiew Puoch each gave Portland nine off the bench.

Three Passes From Shakira Austin

Austin scored nine points and nobody will remember that. They should remember this: she had 13 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and one foul in 47 minutes, and her last three assists all came in the final 1:04 of the fourth overtime, first to Cotie McMahon for the tie and then twice to Citron. With the entire floor running on fumes, Austin was the one still seeing it.

The other big factor was the whistle. Portland was called for 39 fouls to Washington's 23, and Carleton, Engstler and DiLeo all finished with six. Washington got to the line 41 times and made 30. Portland made 19 of 21. In a one-point game where the Fire made three more field goals and four more 3s, that's your difference.

The Evidence

• 30-of-41 vs. 19-of-21: Washington made 11 more free throws.
• 32-25: Points off turnovers for Washington, which got 24 giveaways from Portland.
• 21 and 12: Ties and lead changes.
• 124: Washington's point total, a franchise record according to the team.
• 32: Mystics assists, a season high, to go with a season-best 10 made 3s.

What Survived

Washington is 9-9 and 3-4 at home, and the win stops a two-game slide. It came with a cost: Georgia Amoore left with right knee soreness after 12 minutes and did not return, the AP reported, and it's the same knee she injured last year. The Mystics host Atlanta on Thursday.

Portland drops to 8-12 and 2-7 on the road with its third straight loss. This one came two days after a 124-94 loss in Chicago, so the Fire have now given up 124 in consecutive games, one of them without needing any overtime. They visit Seattle on Saturday.

The Return of the King Called

Three hours and 35 minutes runs longer than the theatrical cut of The Return of the King, and the two have the same defining quality: you keep thinking it's over, and it keeps not being over. Citron gets the final scene. Everyone else gets a very long sleep.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game notes from the Washington Mystics. Context as reported by the Associated Press.