Washington, DC--

Alana Beard made a statement about how she felt about the 2006 Mystics team and tonight her statement of how strong this team is this season showed with a 95-60 rout of the New York Liberty to start the 2006 season.

Beard, who hit 23 of her game-high 25 points in the first half as Washington built a double-digit lead it never relinquished. She missed only 1 of 12 shots from the field, a rushed shot from the right corner at the third-quarter buzzer.

With the 11 for 12 effort from the field, Beard set the Mystics record for best shooting effort in a game, something to be said for some of the good players that have built this team since it's existence.

Mystics Head Coach Richie Adubato seemed pleased with his team tonight and the way that Beard led the scoring and the defensive effort they also showed.

"We had 18 steals, and that means you're really working," Adubato said. "Your hands are working, you're working for deflections, you're getting over screens, you're active. Of course, with all of those, when you pick up those steals, you turn them into fast breaks. We were able to turn that defensive tenacity in the first quarter and jump out on them in the first quarter."

For the Liberty, their inability to hold on to the ball and lack of scoring from starters such as Becky Hammon who had just 7 points, never really gave them chance to come back or keep the game to defeat a hot shooting Mystics team who went 41.2 percent from long range.

e when she sank a three-pointer from the left corner with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter giving the Mystics a 25-3 lead. You can't win many games in this league scoring eight points in a half of any basketball game.

Coco Miller added 10 points off the bench for Washington, which shot 54.3 percent (38-of-70) from the field and held a 50-10 edge in points in the paint.