Oct. 2 (UPI) -- WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne injured her back during the first quarter of the Washington Mystics' loss to the Connecticut Sun in Game 2 of the 2019 WNBA Finals. She did not return to the game.
Delle Donne is set to have an MRI on Wednesday, following the 99-87 setback Tuesday at Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. The best-of-five series is tied 1-1. The Mystics referred to the injury as "back spasms."
Delle Donne had one rebound in three minutes of action before sustaining the injury. The Mystics star went up for her first shot attempt of the game during the sequence. She missed the shot and aggravated her back during the movement. Mystics coach Mike Thibault said Delle Donne's back "grabbed on her" as she went up for the shot.
Delle Donne asked for a substitution immediately after picking up the injury.
Related
"It didn't look good, so we'll see," Thibault told reporters. "We'll see what the MRI says and treatment [Wednesday]. The only good thing, I didn't look forward to having four days between games, but right now that looks like a benefit that we didn't have at the start of the series."
Delle Donne was named 2019 WNBA MVP Sept. 19 after recording 19.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this season. She led the Mystics to a franchise-record 26-8 record. Delle Donne also became the first player in WNBA history to record a 50-40-90 season, posting a 51.5 percent field goal percentage, shooting 43 percent from 3-point range and shooting a league-best 97.4 percent from the free-throw line.
"I am extremely proud of this honor, but we still have work ahead of us and we're all focused playing our hardest to bring a championship to Washington," Delle Donne said.
Delle Donne joined the Mystics in a trade from the Chicago Sky before the 2017 season. The six-time All-Star also won WNBA MVP in 2015.
Sun center Jonquel Jones scored a game-high 32 points and had 18 rebounds in Tuesday's win. Emma Meesseman led the Mystics with 23 points and eight rebounds. Delle Donne had a team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds in the Mystics' Game 1 win.
Game 3 of the 2019 WNBA Finals is set for 3:30 p.m. EDT Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Conn.
