Tulsa Shock, again, less than 5-points

WASHINGTON, D.C.--  Once again, less than 5-points were the factor in a loss by the Tulsa Shock.  A late 14-0 run Saturday night was not enough to push head coach Gary Kloppenburg’s team to their first win of the 2012 season.  Down by as many 16 in the second half, the Shock opened the fourth quarter on a 14-2 to cut the Mystics' double-digit lead to just one, 58-57, after Ivory Latta made one of two free throws with with 3:49 left in the game. A Glory Johnson layup with 1:14 left cut the Mystics lead to 63-61 but the Shock were unable to capitalize on consecutive possessions that could have tied the game.

We’ve been digging our self into a hole in the third quarter and we did it again," Head Coach Gary Kloppenburg said. "It just seems like we go through a scoring drought and obviously we are offensively challenged at times. We got ourselves in a hole and I’m proud of the way they fought out of it but when you are trying to dig out, everything has to go perfectly."

After consecutive turnovers by both teams, Crystal Langhorne made one-of-two free throws to the extend the Mystics lead to 64-61 with 3.9 seconds left to play but the Shock were unable to get a shot off before the final buzzer sounded and Washington prevailed for its first victory of the season.

It’s very frustrating. It’s like we are one shot away, or one pass off," Latta said. "It’s very frustrating but at the same time we have to go to LA and we have to get ready. We have to learn from this and step up."

Tulsa’s Ivory Latta lead all scorers with 16 points and Temeka Johnson had 9 points and 5 rebounds.  Monique Currie led the Mystics scoring efforts with 15 points.  

The Shock move on to Los Angeles for a game with the Sparks on Tuesday night.at 9:30pm Tulsa time in the Staples Center.  From there, they’ll head to Key Arena for a matchup with the Storm on Friday, June 1.  Stops in Phoenix and San Antonio qill round out Tulsa’s longest road trip of the season before they return to the BOK Center for their first meeting with the Minnesota Lynx on June 9th.

Follow the Shock online at wnba.com/shock where you can sign up for WNBA Live Access and watch their games streamed to your computer.  Tickets for the remaining Tullsa Shock home games can be purchased at the BOK Center or by calling 918-599-WNBA.