Washington is swept out of the WNBA playoffs in the first round, 93-75, after recording a franchise-best regular season.
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All game long Wednesday, the Washington Mystics were trying to claw back against the Atlanta Dream after falling into an immediate hole. They finally did at the start of the fourth quarter.
Then, everything unraveled.
After Washington trimmed its deficit to two points, Atlanta went on a 13-0 run, during which the Mystics committed three offensive fouls within two minutes. Washington couldn’t overcome the disastrous stretch, losing to the Dream, 93-75, at CareFirst Arena. Coach Sydney Johnson’s team was swept in two games in the first round of the playoffs after a franchise-best 28-win regular season.
“I’m immensely disappointed for the result,” Johnson said. “But I also think what this group has accomplished and how the D.C. community has rallied around this group has been amazing. They’ve written history.”
Sonia Citron led all scorers with 25 points for Washington. Fellow second-year starter Kiki Iriafen notched a double-double (15 points, 16 rebounds), while center Shakira Austin amassed only nine points in a quiet end to a breakout campaign. Washington’s starters received a boisterous ovation when they checked out with just more than a minute remaining.
The group led the best rebounding team in WNBA history. And the Mystics outrebounded the Dream by 15 but committed 19 turnovers.
The two teams combined for 53 fouls, with 27 coming from the Mystics. Boos were a constant throughout CareFirst Arena. Johnson and his Mystics were often visibly bewildered.
“There were calls that we didn’t like. I’m sure there were calls that they didn’t like,” Johnson said. “I thought Game 1 was truly awful. I can’t stress that enough.”
Washington was outscored by 20 in the second half of Sunday’s opener. The start on Wednesday looked similar.
The Mystics fell behind 9-2 when Atlanta guard Allisha Gray converted a four-point play. Their only points in the first three minutes came off two free throws by Michaela Onyenwere. Dream forward Angel Reese was incredulous at the foul call, pointing at the floor and signaling to the referees that it couldn’t have been on her.
Washington drew eight first-quarter fouls in total, amassing eight of its 17 points at the line. It led the WNBA in free throw attempts per game in the regular season.
The team just behind the Mystics? The Dream.
Atlanta reached the free throw line eight times in the opening quarter, converting all of its attempts. Johnson bickered with referees throughout, while Austin yelled “I went straight up” at the referees after one call late in the first quarter.
Unlike the Mystics, the Dream found success from the outside, too. Atlanta converted four three-pointers before Washington made its first.
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The Dream built a 41-35 halftime lead, with each of their starters notching at least six points. Iriafen led the Mystics with a first-half double-double.
“This whole season has just been just a learning process for me,” she said. “It was nothing like my first season.”
Austin and Citron combined for just 13 first-half points. But Austin converted a three-pointer late in the shot clock to trim Atlanta’s lead before Citron made a buzzer-beater to bring Washington within six at the break.
Austin missed out on the most improved player of the year award earlier Wednesday, as Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard received the honor. Johnson called the decision “really disappointing.” He was a leading candidate for coach of the year, too, but that went to Minnesota Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve for a fifth time.
“We don’t win any kind of awards for our players. How did we get here then? Somebody explain that to me,” Johnson said.
The teams traded blows in the third quarter, during which Washington scored nine of its 23 points at the free throw line. Reese and guard Rhyne Howard both reached four fouls by the end of the frame, leaving Gray to shoulder the offensive load for Atlanta with 13 points in the frame.
She wasn’t the only guard who broke through.
Citron recorded 11 points in the third quarter, including a pair of three-pointers, to help Washington pull within single digits. The Mystics, the second-worst shooting team from three-point range in the regular season, converted only seven for the game. Atlanta, meanwhile, made 13, often halting runs with makes from deep.
“Just disappointment, frustration,” Citron said. “It’s not how we wanted our season to end.”
Groups of fans sheathed in Washington red lined the stands, including the Wizards’ Anthony Davis and AJ Dybantsa — the former a 10-time all-star and the latter the team’s recent No. 1 overall pick. Two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne was also in attendance, sitting near the Mystics’ bench.
Delle Donne, who won an MVP award with Washington in 2019, was part of the Mystics’ championship-winning team that year. The group clinched a title on its home floor.
That victory remains Washington’s last in the postseason, nearly seven years ago. There will be expectations of changing that result in 2027.
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