MM 10.11: Multiple former Terps help lead Washington Mystics to first WNBA Title

When the Washington Mystics won the last game of the best-of-five WNBA Finals on Thursday night, it meant something special for Maryland women’s basketball — five of its former players were champions.

The Mystics’ roster included three players who spent their entire careers at Maryland — Kristi Toliver, Tianna Hawkins and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough — as well as transfers Natasha Cloud (who left the program after playing in 31 of 32 games as a freshman) and Kiara Leslie (who transferred to NC State in 2017), while the Connecticut Sun were made up in part by Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones.

Six of the seven former Terrapins saw the floor throughout the game with Toliver and Cloud finishing with 18 points each for the Mystics, and Thomas and Jones adding 21 and two points respectively for the Sun.

The Mystics jumped out with control of the game as it began, but the Sun were able to battle back and put the home team on its heels after taking a nine-point lead in the third quarter. After tying the game back up with 5:39 remaining, the Mystics went on an 8-0 run and never looked back, taking a 89-78 victory.

It was a hard-fought battle throughout, but Toliver and Cloud were able to knock down big shots and keep the Sun honest against fellow star teammates Elena Delle Donne and Finals-MVP Emma Meesseman.

Former Terps’ stats in game five:

• Kristi Toliver: 38 minutes, 18 points, four rebounds, four assists
• Natasha Cloud: 35 minutes, 18 points, five rebounds, three assists
• Tiana Hawkins: five minutes, one assist
• Shatori Walker-Kimbrough: four minutes, one steal
• Kiara Leslie: Did not play - Coach’s decision - Underwent knee surgery and sat out the 2019 season
• Alyssa Thomas: 37 minutes, 27 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, four fouls
• Brionna Jones: six minutes, two points, one rebound, three fouls

With this win, Toliver also becomes the first former Terrapin to win multiple WNBA Championships.

In other news

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I took a closer look at Purdue in our weekly film review and signaled out some aspects that the Terrapins could take advantage of against the Boilermakers.

In the latest edition of our Maryland men’s basketball player preview series, Cody took a deep dive into junior guard Darryl Morsell.

Testudo Times’ Terps in the Pros Podcast is back with Jordan and Matt recapping Week 5 of the NFL and looking into the seasons that Yannick Ngakoue, Stefon Digs and DJ Moore are having.

Alex previewed the pair of matchups Maryland volleyball has this weekend against No. 8 Penn State on Friday and Rutgers on Saturday.

Mike previewed Maryland women’s soccer’s weekend matchup against Nebraska that will take place on Friday and how the Terps look to build off of a big win over Illinois.

Maryland field hockey has a tough weekend ahead with matchups against No. 8 Iowa on Friday and Indiana on Sunday.

Prior to its trip to West Lafayette, Indiana, Maryland football took a tour of a Haunted House.

Maryland football posted its uniforms for this weekend.

The XFL will be holding its inaugural draft this month, and so far eight players have been announced in the pool. Here are the latest:

Maryland men’s basketball released a video featuring junior guard Darryl Morsell.

Former Terp Jake Layman played his second game with the Timberwolves on Thursday night. Coming off the bench, Layman finished tied for the team-high with 17 points, including this confident layup below.

Maryland men’s soccer will head to East Lansing to take on Michigan State Friday, standby for our preview, but the Terps posted a reminder of their last matchup against the Spartans on the road: