After a close first half, a late surge pushes playoff-bound Washington past Connecticut.
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On Tuesday night against the Connecticut Sun, the Washington Mystics struggled in an area they have generally dominated. They made history anyway.
Washington came in as the top rebounding team in the WNBA, but the Sun finished with a 43-34 advantage on the glass — just the fourth time this year the Mystics were outrebounded. They still came away with a 79-69 win at CareFirst Arena, securing a franchise-record 27 regular season victories.
Washington has won 15 of its past 19 games and sits one game behind Indiana for the No. 5 seed in the WNBA playoffs with one game left.
“We have a vision here in D.C., and I think everybody knew we had potential,” guard Sonia Citron said. “Just to see the growth from last year to this year, is incredible. And I think the sky’s the limit. I truly believe that there’s another level we can tap into.”
Shakira Austin poured in a game-high 25 points, while Citron added 12 and Cotie McMahon scored 13 off the bench. Diamond Miller, a former star at the University of Maryland, led Connecticut with 19 points.
Despite the final score, much of the night was filled with frustration for Washington (27-16). Connecticut (10-33) attacked the paint, scrapped for loose balls and kept possessions alive, desperately seeking its first road win since July 17.
“It was an ugly win,” Coach Sydney Johnson said.
While Austin grabbed seven first-half rebounds, the rest of the team amassed just six. Washington went into the locker room ahead by only two.
Austin was annoyed with referees throughout. Even when she got a late call in the first half to send her to the free throw line, Austin clapped her hands emphatically, imploring the officials to be more active. She finished with 15 free throw attempts, making 11.
“She should 100 percent be an [all-WNBA] player. She should run away with most improved. She should be on the all-defensive [team],” Johnson said. “A career year — and a ton of that has to do with her maturation and the game slowing down for her.”
A few minutes into the second half, Austin received a technical foul after talking incredulously to the referees following a no-call when Sun center Raegan Beers pushed off on an inbound. Austin dove on the ensuing possession to save a loose ball, but Georgia Amoore missed a makeable three in transition, leaving the Mystics’ lead at just 48-47.
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A sense of anxiety bubbled throughout the arena. But shortly after, Washington finally separated.
Citron scored a pair of buckets to boisterous cheers from the crowd before Austin went 4 for 4 from the line and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton drilled a three-pointer from the wing, extending the Mystics’ lead to nine. They built an eight-point edge after three quarters and held the Sun to just 11 points in the fourth.
“The most important thing this game was our defense,” McMahon said. “We struggled [in] the first half for sure, a little bit third quarter, but really picked it up towards the end of the third quarter and then carried on to the fourth quarter.”
The Mystics entered Tuesday surrendering the second-fewest points per game in the WNBA. Their defense has fueled a turnaround, which Johnson saw the potential for more than two months ago.
After a 16-28 finish in Johnson’s 2025 debut, Washington was stuck in mediocrity for the first two months this season. Then, in a pair of mid-July road games against a tough foe, the coach noticed a shift.
On July 18, even as the Mystics fell to the Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco, the team’s toughness and togetherness encouraged Johnson. Washington — which had lost to the Valkyries by 13 points nearly two weeks earlier — held a fourth-quarter lead and fought all the way.
Two days later, Johnson saw the same intensity. And Washington beat Golden State this time.
“At that moment, I thought this may be moving a bit faster than I originally thought it would,” Johnson said pregame Tuesday.
He was right — and probably faster than he could have envisioned, reaching a zenith with Tuesday’s historic win.
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