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Fever-Mystics Preview

Jul 23, 2010 - 8:33 PM By SAMANTHA PANITCH STATS Writer

Indiana (14-7) at Washington (13-7), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Either the Indiana Fever or Washington Mystics will be atop the Eastern Conference after their matchup Saturday night. The winner will be far from assured of ending the season there - or even just making the playoffs.

First place is at stake as the Mystics try to beat the visiting Fever for the third time in as many tries this season.

While Indiana (14-7) is a half-game ahead of Washington (13-7), the six teams in the East will enter the weekend separated by just four games.

"It's going to go down to the wire," Mystics guard Katie Smith said. "It's going to be pretty wild for the fans. The games are going to be so tough because everybody's fighting for their lives."

The Mystics' success against the Fever this year is quite a turnaround from a season ago when Indiana won all six meetings, including a two-game sweep in the first round of the playoffs. Washington opened this season with a 72-65 win at Indiana, and backed that up with a 68-65 home victory June 29.

Smith made five 3-pointers and had a season-high 21 points in that latest matchup to lead the Mystics, who have dominated the interior in both meetings. Crystal Langhorne has averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in those games as Washington outrebounded Indiana by a 70-46 margin.

The Fever enter this game as the hotter team, having won three straight and five of six. They're coming off an impressive defensive performance, holding Los Angeles to 21 points and six field goals in the second half of a 76-57 win Thursday night.

"It was energy on defense," coach Lin Dunn said. "We forced them into some bad shots, we got some turnovers, they were struggling scoring. I thought they scored too easy in the first half and that's not like us. In the second half, we really brought out defensive effort."

Ebony Hoffman led Indiana with 16 points and eight rebounds. The forward has averaged 14.8 points over her last four games after scoring in double digits only five times in the Fever's first 17.

She has struggled this season against Washington, though, averaging 5.5 points.

The Mystics are coming off an 82-72 win over Atlanta on Wednesday.

Langhorne had 24 points and Matee Ajavon added 15 for the Mystics, who took the lead for good less than three minutes into the game and led by as many as 19.

The Mystics and Fever conclude the season series next Friday in Indiana.