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Penicheiro’s Magic Makes Mystics Disappear
Posted Wednesday, July 2, 2008
 11-year league veteran Ticha Penicheiro scored a team-high 17 points for the Monarchs, including four key points to seal the victory at game's end. Photo by George Young. |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Eleven years worth of experience tends to teach a leader a thing or two. For the Sacramento Monarchs veteran point guard Ticha Penicheiro, it taught her that when all else fails, take matters into your own hands.
After Mystics forward Monique Currie tied the game late with a 3-pointer, Penicheiro called her own number on two consecutive possessions to give the Monarchs a lead they would not relinquish. They went on to defeat the Washington Mystics 87-81 Tuesday night in front of an announced crowd of 5,705 at ARCO Arena.
“We definitely made a point tonight that we’re going to make it hard for people to play here,” Monarchs guard Scholanda Robinson said.
Mystics head coach Tree Rollins had seen the Monarchs make this point before. “Usually when we come here to Sacramento, we go into overtime -- and we haven’t been able to win here in the past few years, so they just are a good team.”
The few years he refers to is actually six, as the Sacramento Monarchs continued their dominance of the series, winning for the eighth straight time. The last two meetings at ARCO Arena were decided in overtime. The Mystics last won in Sacramento in June of 2002.
Offensively, the night got off to a rousing start for the Monarchs as Rebekkah Brunson opened with six straight points and finished the first quarter a perfect 4-4 from the floor. Robinson came off the bench to add five points of her own as the Monarchs took a 24-17 lead into the second.
The Mystics needed a little over five minutes to reduce the Monarchs' lead to one, and after tying the game three times inside the final 2:30 of the half, they took their first lead of the night courtesy of a pair of free-throws by Alana Beard with 38 seconds remaining. Penicheiro hit a jumper to send the Monarchs into the locker room with a one point lead 44-43. Sacramento rallied with a 13-2 run to take a 58-47 lead midway through the third, and eventually taking a six-point lead into the fourth.
With the Mystics mounting a charge in the final quarter, Penicheiro scored nine of her team-high 17 points in the fourth -- and none were bigger than the four she scored late with the game tied.
When asked if the plays at the end of the game were called for her, Penicheiro smiled wryly and said, “Naw … that was free-style.”
“I called something else, and I saw an opportunity for me to go to the basket. The way they were guarding Kara (Lawson) and Nicole (Powell), it was hard for them to get open. When they go out, and somebody's on them and somebody's on our post players, I felt like if I could beat my man off the dribble, I would have a good look at the basket.”
Her feeling turned out to be right. With a 1:30 to go, Penicheiro beat her defender with a spinning move down the lane to bank a shot in to give the Monarchs a 77-75 lead. After the stifling Monarchs' defense forced the Mystics into a shot-clock violation, Penicheiro again shook her defender, this time for a 13-foot fade away jumper to extend the lead to four with 44 seconds left in the game. Free-throws down the stretch helped the Monarchs close the game out and complete a 2-0 home stand.
“For somebody who a couple of years ago wasn’t even being guarded, she has re-emerged as a legitimate all-star and top point guard in the league,” Monarchs head coach Jenny Boucek said, of Penicheiro. “She’s running our team; making huge plays consistently in game- winning time.”
In addition to Penicheiro, other Monarchs double-figure scorers were Lawson with 13, Brunson with 12 and Robinson, who also added 12 -- her season-high. Penicheiro registered a game-high eight assists, and center Adrian Williams-Strong grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Alana Beard had the game-high in scoring, with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting . Monique Currie added 17 points and tied a career-high in assists with seven. Coco Miller finished with 10.
Sacramento (8-8) embarks on a two-game Texas road trip, opening with the San Antonio Silver Stars on Thursday, July 3rd and then taking on the Houston Comets on July 5th. Washington (6-10) returns home to play host to the Silver Stars on Sunday, July 6th.
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