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Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics earn first WNBA crown

AP photo by Alex Brandon / Washington Mystics guard Natasha Cloud, left, forward Elena Delle Donne and guard Kristi Toliver celebrate during the second half of Game 5 of the WNBA Finals against the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night in Washington.
AP photo by Alex Brandon / Washington Mystics guard Natasha Cloud, left, forward Elena Delle Donne and guard Kristi Toliver celebrate during the second half of Game 5 of the WNBA Finals against the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night in Washington. AP photo by Alex Brandon / Washington Mystics guard Natasha Cloud, left, forward Elena Delle Donne and guard Kristi Toliver celebrate during the second half of Game 5 of the WNBA Finals against the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night in Washington.

By Associated Press 5 min read

WASHINGTON – Elena Delle Donne felt cursed. Every time she made it to the WNBA’s biggest stage, she was hindered by injuries.

This time around it was three herniated disks in her back. The league MVP wouldn’t let that keep her from her first championship.

Emma Meesseman scored 22 points and Delle Donne added 21 to help the Washington Mystics beat the Connecticut Sun 89-78 on Thursday night in a deciding Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. It was the first title in franchise history.

“It feels phenomenal, my goodness, feels so good. Hard to put it into words,” said Delle Donne, who fell short in two previous appearances in the title series. “To win it with such a great group of people. We wanted to win it for the person next to us. We’ll remember this season. I’m kind of sad the season’s about to be over. My goodness, we sure ended this on a high note.”

It was a fitting conclusion to an entertaining series and season.