Washington, DC--

In a must win situation for the Washington Mystics against the New York Liberty, it was as close as you could possibly get to a victory, but just a few seconds is what made the difference in tonights game.

The Mystics certainly wanted this game more than the Liberty as they battled back and forth with one-point leads nine times in the final 4:28 of the fourth quarter, but the Mystics lost, 73-72, missing an opportunity to clinch a postseason berth outright as guard Alana Beard's shot at the final buzzer skipped off the rim.

For the Liberty, Janel McCarville scored 18 points and Shameka Christon added 12, including the go-ahead free throws with 9.8 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

"We played with a sense of urgency and that's what we needed to do,'' Christon said. "I think a lot of people didn't expect us to win this game. We really didn't think about that. We just went out there and played hard.''

DeLisha Milton-Jones had 21 points and Alana Beard added 19 for the Mystics (15-18). Tonight's game would have had less meaning for the Mystics had they not started with the horrid 0-8 record that Head Coach Tree Rollins leaves no excuses for.

"I'm really not really frustrated as much as you think I would be," Rollins said. "We played hard, they played hard. We know their sets like they know our sets. It just came down to little things."

"I thought [Beard] was going to really save the day for us once again," Mystics foward Milton-Jones said. "She's really carried a huge load for this organization for many, many years. Especially in the second half of the season. She comes to play and play big."