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Langhorne leads Mystics over Silver Stars

Aug 18, 2010 - 4:36 AM SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Crystal Langhorne scored 21 points to lead a balanced offense and the Washington Mystics dealt the San Antonio Silver Stars' playoff hopes a blow Tuesday night with a 76-66 victory.

With the regular season in its final week, Washington (20-12) is a game behind East-leading Indiana and a half-game behind New York.

"We knew tonight that they were fighting for their lives," said Langhorne, who also grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Washington's 38-27 edge on the boards. "But at the same time, we're also fighting for first place in the East, and we want to keep playing well going into the playoffs."

The Mystics led most of the way and throughout the second half, but never could pull away. A 3-pointer by Katie Smith followed by a turnaround jumper from Lindsey Harding finally gave Washington some breathing room at 69-60 with 3:15 left.

"For the most part we were in control," Smith said. "When they made a run, we were able to withstand that and get ourselves back up to a 10-point cushion."

Monique Currie scored 14 points, and Smith finished with 13 for the Mystics.

Sophia Young led San Antonio (12-20) with 19 points.

The Silver Stars played for the first time since May 20 without forward Chamique Holdsclaw, who suffered a torn Achilles' tendon Sunday at Minnesota and will miss the remainder of the season.

Her absence was felt most on the offensive end, particularly by guard Becky Hammon. After scoring 30 points on Sunday, Hammon was limited to 10 in her first full game without Holdsclaw since the second game of the season.

"(Holdsclaw is) somebody that you always have to pay attention to offensively," Hammon said. "They were really, really keying on me. Every time I cut, I had two or three people on me.

"She's a scorer, and we really missed her scoring. What'd we put up - 66 points. That's not enough to win in this league."

San Antonio entered Tuesday tied with Minnesota and Los Angeles for the final two playoff spots in the West. The Lynx and the Sparks both lost in late games Tuesday, keeping it a three-way tie.

Michelle Snow, playing with a protective facemask, scored all 12 of the Silver Stars' points in the first quarter, then did not score again until 1:29 remained in the game.

The Mystics led by six entering the second period and 36-32 at halftime. The Washington lead reached 12 in the third period before the Silver Stars whittled it to 54-49 by the end of the quarter.