Kara Lawson's basket with 42.9 seconds remaining snapped a tie game, and the Washington Wizards went on to a 67-62 win over the New York Liberty at Verizon Center.
After New York's Tina Charles followed two successful free throws from teammate Swin Cash with a short hook shot to knot the score at 62-62, Lawson buried a turnaround jumper on the other end to put the Mystics back in front. Rebecca Allen then misfired on a 3-point try for the Liberty, with Washington's Emma Meesseman corralling the rebound and sinking two free throws after being fouled with 25.7 seconds left.
The Liberty missed two more shots on their next trip down the court, and Lawson sealed Washington's second straight victory to open the season by coming down with the rebound and making 1-of-2 foul shots.
Meesseman paced the Mystics with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Ivory Latta recorded 10 points in the win.
Charles finished with 18 points and eight rebounds and Carolyn Swords contributed 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting off the bench for the Liberty, but 18 turnovers helped spoil New York's chance at a 2-0 start.
Neither team was ahead by more than six points in a tightly contested game in which both shot under 37 percent from the field.
[SportsNetwork.com]
