Beard's fourth-quarter rally helps Mystics past Sky

CHICAGO (AP) -- Alana Beard scored 13 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Washington Mystics snapped a five-game losing streak with a 64-57 win over the Chicago Sky on Friday night.

The Mystics (3-7) earned their first road victory of the season and won for the first time since May 27.

"I feel like it's my job to hit big shots," Beard said. "It's been 16 days since a win. It feels really good and takes a lot of stress off me in particular."

Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 14 and Beard added three assists and five rebounds. The Mystics shot 53 percent from the field (27-of-51) and overcame 22 turnovers, including eight by Beard.

Chicago (3-5) lost its second straight and for the fourth time in six games. Jia Perkins led the Sky with 17 points. Candice Dupree added 11 and Chasity Melvin had 10.

The Sky dropped their fourth straight to the Mystics and are 1-7 against Washington. Chicago shot 38 percent (20-of-52) and struggled at the free throw line, making only 16 of 29.

"It's one thing if one person is missing all their free throws, but for the entire team to miss is killing us," said Dupree, who added four steals.

Beard was hot in the final 2 minutes, going 3-for-3 from behind the arc -- including a buzzer-beating shot. Beard's third 3 gave the Mystics a 63-57 lead with 14.7 seconds left.

"Alana had been pressing the whole game," Mystics coach Tree Rollins said. "She was able to sort it out, in the fourth quarter especially. She found that (3-point) line and she was the great player that we know Alana is. She got us the win."

After trailing by five, Washington used a 17-5 run to take a 50-43 lead with just under nine minutes left. The Sky scored seven straight points to get even at 50 with 6:41 remaining.