The 6-7, 5th place Washington Mystics played the 2-9, 6th place Charlotte Sting, and 4,054 paid to see it at the Coliseum. A shocking thing happened in a game a lot of people didn't watch. Janel McCarville played.

The 2005 first overall draft pick nailed 5-5 from the floor, drilled 1-1 from the line, fought for seven rebounds, nabbed two steals, blocked one shot, and committed no turnovers or fouls in a perfect 24 minutes.

Oh, and uh, Charlotte lost. But as regulation wound down, the Sting found its pulse. In the final minutes, McCarville hit a reverse lay-up, deflected a Chastity Melvin pass, put pressure on DeLisha Milton-Jones, forced an errant inbounds pass that returned possession, and rebounded Sheri Sam’s air-balled 3-point attempt to give the Sting the last 6.9 seconds of regulation and one final possession. Dawn Staley converted a 3-point play to force OT.

Overtime belonged to the Mystics. Washington's Chasity Melvin made consecutive layups and hit two FTs to spur an 8-1 Mystics run out of the gate. "When people catch up by a three-point play at the end, you can go right in the tank and be completely demoralized," Mystics Coach Richie Adubato said. "I'm very pleased we were mentally tough enough after we blew the game." Washington is 4-1 in its last 5 games.

Charlotte fell to 1-1 in its last two games, but somewhere along the 1-9 road the head coach had an epiphany regarding number 4. "It was a good night from Janel," said Coach Lacey, "and that’s the type of minutes that we need from her."