At the start of Sunday, the Washington Mystics were tied with the Connecticut Sun for the Eastern Conference standings lead. However, they were without WNBA All-Star guard Elena Delle Donne for Sunday's meeting against the New York Liberty. That allowed the home team to capture a lopsided 85-55 win as the visitors didn't have enough firepower to keep up. Here's the latest Mystics vs. Liberty recap including top performers, a standings update, and what's next for the two WNBA teams.

WNBA game recap

Without Elena Delle Donne for the Washington Mystics against a defensive-minded Liberty squad, the team struggled mightily to get any scoring.

The Mystics' All-Star was sidelined due to an ankle injury she suffered in the previous game. To pick up the slack, Emma Meesseman led all Mystics' players with 19 points on 6-for-14 shooting. No other Washington player had double-digits, though, as Ivory Latta came closest with her nine points. Kia Thomas finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.

The New York Liberty received 15 points from guard Bria Hartley on 6-for-10 shooting, and 11 points from Shavonte Zellous along with two blocks. Tina Charles had just six points to go with six rebounds in a much quieter performance, but Sugar Rodgers came off the New York bench to add 14 points in the latest win. The Liberty bench contributed 41 points on the day, something that coach Bill Laimbeer had been critical of heading into today's matchup.

For the game, the home team shot at a rate of 44.4 percent including 39.1 percent from downtown. The Washington Mystics managed to hit just 18-of-65 shots attempted for a 27.7 percent rate. In addition, the Liberty grabbed a staggering 45 rebounds compared to 28 for the Mystics.

Standings & what's next

The Washington Mystics' loss on Sunday afternoon drops their overall record to 11-9.

With the Connecticut Sun winning their game against the San Antonio Stars, it means the Sun have reclaimed the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Next up for Washington is a home game against the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

The New York Liberty moved their record to .500 with today's big win, keeping them in the conversation for the playoff standings. They're currently 9-9 overall and 6-4 on their home court. They'll battle the Sun in Connecticut on Wednesday, with game time scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.
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