{"id":2204,"date":"2026-05-31T10:04:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T10:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2204"},"modified":"2026-05-31T10:04:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T10:04:30","slug":"the-young-mystics-find-fun-and-chemistry-even-when-wins-dont-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2204","title":{"rendered":"The young Mystics find fun and chemistry, even when wins don\u2019t follow"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WNBA\u2019s youngest team is keeping games close, stealing wins \u2014 and embracing the silly.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Blue states pitch 100 percent tax on Trump\u2019s \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 payouts<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Angela Dugalic, left, and Lauren Betts are former college teammates and rookies on the WNBA’s youngest team. (Hannah Foslien\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

There are teams in the WNBA with more experience. That have higher expectations. That are built to win this year and are striving to have significant success.<\/p>\n

There may not, though, be a team having more fun than the Washington Mystics. Yes, the youngest team in the league is just 3-4 through its first seven games, and the growing pains aren\u2019t likely to disappear anytime soon. But as the Mystics start to jell, their chemistry and joy are helping them keep things interesting.<\/p>\n

The Mystics lost to the Dallas Wings and the Seattle Storm in back-to-back games, then rebounded to beat the Storm on Wednesday night in the second game out west. Though they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night at CareFirst Arena, the five-point margin in the 92-87 defeat \u2014 while facing one of the most veteran-heavy teams in the league \u2014 felt to the team like another step forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the situation we want to be in. Having multiple games where we\u2019re competing in overtime, going up against L.A. who\u2019s a team full of vets, it\u2019s exciting,\u201d forward Shakira Austin said Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to be able to go out there and compete every day and just bring them along with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Coach Sydney Johnson, \u201cThey think I\u2019m a dad too much when I\u2019m praising them for how they go about their business, but it\u2019s amazing to watch them fight and stay together and face adversity and also hold themselves accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin, who at 25 would be a young player on most teams, is the Mystics\u2019 second most veteran player. When she and second-year guard Sonia Citron arrived to meet with the media after Friday\u2019s game, they were laughing and poking fun at each other, and the banter continued throughout their news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we need to be pushed, she\u2019ll be that person that\u2019ll be on our a–,\u201d Citron said while lauding Austin\u2019s leadership. \u201cThat\u2019s her. But then, at the same time, when we have to settle down or whatever, she\u2019s kind of that calming voice, too, which is different. Usually she\u2019s just the hype one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo hype,\u201d Austin interjected, which drew a grin from Citron.<\/p>\n

Later, Austin apologized to a reporter after forgetting the question she was asked. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Austin said, laughing. \u201cSoni\u2019s big muscles were distracting me. I forgot the first part.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Jake McCarthy hits 2-run homer, drives in 4 runs in the Rockies\u2019 8-3 win over the Giants<\/a><\/p>\n

When rookie Lauren Betts appeared on Sue Bird\u2019s podcast last week, she briefly stunned the Storm legend into silence with her reveal of the team\u2019s internal nickname.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you feel like you guys have, like, good vibes? You\u2019re all getting along, the chemistry is legit?\u201d Bird asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah,\u201d Betts replied. \u201cWe\u2019re called the young hos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, the young what?\u201d Bird said, holding a hand to her ear like she was hoping she\u2019d misheard Betts, while Betts repeated herself and laughed.<\/p>\n

It was a silly moment on a podcast, but Betts\u2019s comfort cracking jokes and showing off her sense of humor \u2014 and the nickname itself \u2014 highlights the Mystics\u2019 youthful exuberance and camaraderie.<\/p>\n

When they\u2019re able to channel that energy on the court, they\u2019ve proved to be a tougher team to beat so far this year than many expected at the outset of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the chemistry that I love to jell around,\u201d Austin said. \u201cI like people who compete, and I think we\u2019re starting to show that more on a consistent basis. To me, that\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as Friday\u2019s game started to turn in Los Angeles\u2019 favor in the fourth quarter, the Mystics fought to stay close and didn\u2019t let the more experienced Sparks run them out of the building. For Johnson and his staff, demonstrating those characteristics and building chemistry as a team are more important this year than wins and losses. It\u2019s part of their development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire team responded to being down 69-61 and shots not falling. You have no idea the mental toughness that takes, from a group that hasn\u2019t been through it,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe lost, I get it. But it was absolutely amazing to see how much they continue to trust and stay with what we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Mariners hit 4 homers for 2nd straight game, beat Diamondbacks 5-1<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The WNBA\u2019s youngest team is keeping games close, stealing wins \u2014 and embracing the silly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nThe young Mystics find fun and chemistry, even when wins don\u2019t follow - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2204\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The young Mystics find fun and chemistry, even when wins don\u2019t follow - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The WNBA\u2019s youngest team is keeping games close, stealing wins \u2014 and embracing the silly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2204\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-31T10:04:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3f0cdbf728ae9daa84b3fa26456ab33d-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"The young Mystics find fun and chemistry, even when wins don\u2019t follow\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T10:04:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204\"},\"wordCount\":813,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/bb44406d5d5711599cb5fc0353dc74d0-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204\",\"name\":\"The young Mystics find fun and chemistry, even when wins don\u2019t follow - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/bb44406d5d5711599cb5fc0353dc74d0-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T10:04:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2204#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/bb44406d5d5711599cb5fc0353dc74d0-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/bb44406d5d5711599cb5fc0353dc74d0-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 10: Angela Dugalic #32 and Lauren Betts #51 of the Washington Mystics wait to enter the game against the New York Liberty during the first quarter at CareFirst Arena on May 10, 2026 in Washington, DC. 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