WASHINGTON – After being called for a charge, she hit a three-pointer. After committing a loose-ball foul, she hit a jumper. Every time it looked as if Nicole Powell might cost her team a win late in the game, she redeemed herself.
Powell did more good than bad. The fifth-year forward out of Stanford missed a career high by one point, scoring 28 to lift the Monarchs to a 79-76 victory over the Washington Mystics on Wednesday night.
"I'm so happy for you," Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek told Powell after the game.
Powell "is emerging as a very special player in this league," Boucek said. "As good as she's been already in her career, I believe she's just now scratching the surface."
Powell, who has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, reached the 20-point plateau for the first time this year. She made 12 of 19 shots, including 4 of 5 from three-point range.
Powell found her rhythm early while her teammates were struggling from the floor. After Ticha Penicheiro scored the game's first basket, Sacramento (4-4) missed its next seven shots.
The Monarchs' defense, however, held Washington (2-7) in check. Sacramento forced the Mystics into 11 first-half turnovers.
There were eight lead changes and seven ties in the first half before Powell started to assert herself. She sank two jump shots to begin a 10-0 run that put the Monarchs ahead 35-25. Powell scored 14 points in the first half.
"Nicole got in a groove," teammate Kara Lawson said. "She's such a hard matchup because she shoots it so well from deep, but she's so big. … We just kept calling her number until they stopped it. She did a great job of making shots."
Lawson also did her part, scoring 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 3 of 9 from behind the arc.
Sacramento knew it would have to shut down Washington's three-point shooting. The Mystics, who have lost five consecutive games, lead the league in three-point field-goal percentage (38.2 percent). But Washington didn't make a basket from behind the arc until the second half and finished 4 of 17 from three-point range.
Leading 70-64, Sacramento looked to have the game in hand. But Washington hit back-to-back three-pointers, and Taj McWilliams-Franklin converted a three-point play to put the Mystics ahead by one. On the Monarchs' next possession, Powell was called for an offensive foul. Washington missed its next shot, and Powell hit a three-pointer.
When Powell was called for a foul on Washington's next possession, she vehemently protested. Powell showed nearly as much emotion when she sank the jumper that gave the Monarchs the margin they needed for the victory.
"We wanted to get this win," Powell said. "We fought so hard the whole game. I couldn't help but be fired up. Our whole team was fired up."
After winning its first road game of the season against New York on Sunday to open this three-game trip, Sacramento will go for a road sweep tonight in Minnesota.
"You go on a road trip and (say) well, I hope I get one," Lawson said. "Then you get greedy. Might as well get three."
