Mystics vs. Sun: Sonia Citron's 26 and a 29-of-30 Night at the Line Send Connecticut to a Sixth Straight Loss

There are glamorous ways to win a road game, and then there's what the Washington Mystics did at the foul line on Wednesday night. They shot 30 free throws at Mohegan Sun Arena. They made 29. Their leading scorer went 12-for-12, and one of the rims in Uncasville is probably still waiting for an apology.

The Mystics beat the Connecticut Sun 88-81, and it's a win that took some doing. Sonia Citron finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Michaela Onyenwere scored 22 without missing from 3, and rookie Lauren Betts added 13 in her first career start, all while Kiki Iriafen (ankle) and Shakira Austin (knee) sat out. Connecticut has now lost six straight.

Ahead Most of the Night, Comfortable Never

Washington led for 84 percent of this game, and if you only looked at that number, you'd assume it was easy. It wasn't. The Mystics went up 18-14 after one and 36-29 at the half, and the lead reached 11 at its largest, but the Sun kept showing up at the door. Connecticut won the third quarter 29-27 and trailed only 63-58 going to the fourth.

Then it got properly tight. Leila Lacan's driving layup tied the game at 70 with 5:46 to go, and for the first time in a long while Washington had a real problem. Betts answered immediately, stepping to the line and making two to put the Mystics back in front for good. It's an unglamorous way for a first-time starter to make a play like that, and it fit the night perfectly.

Onyenwere followed with a running layup, and Georgia Amoore made two free throws for a 76-70 lead. Connecticut came right back. Brittney Griner hit a 12-footer off a Lacan pass, then Charlisse Leger-Walker scored on a drive, and it was 76-74 with 3:11 left and the crowd of 6,943 back in it.

Citron Closes, Onyenwere Doesn't Miss

Citron's stat line is the kind that sneaks up on you. She went 7-of-13 from the floor and 0-of-4 from 3, so this was hardly a shooting clinic, yet she played 38 minutes and finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, largely by getting to the line whenever she pleased. She also finished the game by herself. From the 2:25 mark on, she scored every one of Washington's final nine points.

Onyenwere was the other half of the punch. She shot 8-of-12 overall and 4-of-4 from deep, which is about as clean as a 22-point night gets. Betts' debut in the starting lineup was a funny one: 2-of-7 from the field but 9-of-10 at the line, with seven rebounds and three assists to round it out. The No. 4 overall pick was a plus-12, the best mark on the team. Amoore scored 10 in 19 minutes, and Cotie McMahon only scored two but chipped in six rebounds and four assists off the bench.

For the Sun, Aneesah Morrow was the most productive player they had, with 11 points and 10 rebounds in a reserve role. Lacan also scored 11, needing 14 shots to get there, while Kennedy Burke and Leger-Walker gave Connecticut 10 apiece off the bench. Griner played 23 minutes and finished with six points and two blocks. Connecticut's ball security was excellent, with five turnovers all night, and the Mystics managed only two steals and one block. Washington won this without forcing much of anything, leaning instead on a 29-19 edge on the defensive glass and a trip to the line seemingly every other possession. The Sun's reserves actually outscored their starters, 42-39, which tells you something about how the night went for the first group.

The 27-Footer

With Washington clinging to 76-74, the game was sitting right there for Connecticut. Then Onyenwere rose up from 27 feet on an Angela Dugalic pass at 2:53 and buried it. It was her fourth 3 of the night on her fourth try, and the kind of shot that makes a home crowd sit back down.

Citron took it from there. She made two free throws at 2:25, then scored on a drive at 1:52 and added the free throw for an 84-74 lead. That was an 8-0 run in about a minute, and it effectively ended the suspense. Lacan's three-point play and a 25-foot 3 from Diamond Miller made the final score look closer than the last two minutes felt, and Citron finished things with two more from the line.

How You Win With Fewer Baskets

• 29-of-30: Washington at the line. Connecticut went 15-of-23, a 14-point difference in a seven-point game.
• 7-of-18 vs. 4-of-20: The 3-point gap, worth another nine points for the Mystics.
• 31-26: Field goals made, Sun's favor, along with a 48-36 edge in the paint.
• 20-5: Connecticut's advantage in points off turnovers, with Washington committing 13 to the Sun's five.
• 77 of 88: The share of Washington's points from its five starters. Only three reserves played.

Six in a Row and One Strange Pattern

Washington moves to 6-7 and 4-4 on the road, and here's a weird one: the Mystics haven't won two games in a row at any point this season, alternating their way through the schedule with a couple of hiccups. They'll try to change that at New York on Friday, against a Liberty team that beat them 86-64 on Sunday.

Connecticut falls to 2-14 and 1-6 at home. The Sun haven't won since beating Los Angeles 84-81 on May 30, and the six straight losses have come by margins that range from four points to 16. They host Toronto on Friday.

When Life Gives You Citron

Citron is French for lemon, which makes this easy. Washington was missing two big pieces of its frontcourt, had a rookie making her first start and turned it over 13 times against a team that scored 20 points off those mistakes. The Mystics squeezed what they had anyway, right down to 29 of 30 at the line, and left Connecticut with the sour end of the deal.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Context as reported by the Associated Press.