Brittney Sykes helps Mystics defeat Dream in season-opener

Brittney Sykes had a team-high 22 points and five assists, helping lead the Washington Mystics to a 94-90 season-opening victory over the visiting Atlanta Dream on Friday.

Sonia Citron added 19 points for Washington, followed by Kiki Iriafen's 14 and Sug Sutton's 13. Jade Melbourne added 11 off the bench for the Mystics, who won in Sydney Johnson's coaching debut.

Allisha Gray had 25 points and seven assists for Atlanta, while Brittney Griner added 18 points and Brionna Jones followed with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Rhyne Howard had 11 points and Nia Coffey chipped in 10.

Trailing 87-79 with less than three minutes left, Atlanta mounted an 8-1 spurt -- stamped with Gray's three-point play to pull the Dream within a point at the 1:20 mark. Sykes then hit a pair of free throws and Jones split two foul shots. After Stefanie Dolson's miss, Griner's jumper tied the game with 34 seconds remaining.

Sykes answered with a layup and then stole the ball from Griner. Citron iced the game with two foul shots.

Down by four at halftime, Washington opened the third quarter on a 14-7 run and took a 55-52 edge on Citron's 3-pointer with 6:34 remaining.

Atlanta then held Washington scoreless for nearly four minutes, and grabbed a 59-57 edge on Shatori Walker-Kimbrough's basket. After Iriafen's mid-range jumper tied the game, Jones' layup and Gray's sixth 3-pointer gave the Dream a 66-61 lead.

Washington closed the quarter on a 10-4 run, including Dolson's 3-pointer in the closing seconds to take a 71-70 lead entering the fourth.

From there, the Mystics opened the final quarter on a 9-2 run, holding the Dream without a basket until Griner's layup at the 6:11 mark. Sutton's 3-pointer pushed Washington's lead to 80-72, before Griner's back-to-back layups cut Atlanta's deficit to four.

Dolson then hit a 3-pointer and Griner answered with a three-point play to trim Washington's lead to 83-79 with 3:28 remaining. Sykes and Citron's baskets then extended the lead to eight with 2:48 left.

After grabbing a 24-20 lead, the Dream began the second on a 12-4 run to take a 36-24 lead with 7:30 remaining.

Washington answered with a 10-0 spurt -- capped with Melbourne and Emily Engstler's triples. Sutton's layup with 1:19 remaining knotted the score at 40, before Jones' free throws and Gray's 3-pointer helped the Dream take a 45-41 halftime-lead.

--Field Level Media