{"id":8749,"date":"2026-08-06T05:35:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8749"},"modified":"2026-08-06T05:35:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:35:54","slug":"mystics-come-back-to-beat-wings-for-fifth-straight-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8749","title":{"rendered":"Mystics come back to beat Wings for fifth-straight win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington trailed by 20 in its 96-92 win.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Cotie McMahon celebrates after the game against the Dallas Wings. (Scott Taetsch\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Somehow, in the late minutes of a 20-point blowout that had morphed into an exchange of tough shots, what didn\u2019t happen is what mattered most.<\/p>

Read more Nats snap losing streak with 10-4 win in Philadelphia<\/a><\/p>\n

For most of Wednesday night, the Washington Mystics trailed by double digits. Then, in a whirlwind of a 52-point second half, the game was right there. A Sonia Citron basket on one side. A Paige Bueckers response on the other. The type of basketball Washington fans haven\u2019t seen much this decade.<\/p>\n

Which is why, with a three-point lead in the final 30 seconds and a foul that would\u2019ve sent the Dallas Wings\u2019 Arike Ogunbowale to the line, the crowd stood silent. The CareFirst Arena screen played the review 17 times. Demonstrations broke out in seating rows. And, finally, a roar. And the seconds ticked and ticked. And a night of big shots finished as silently as it could on the court, Washington winning 96-92, and as disruptively as it could in the WNBA ecosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can feel it,\u201d Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019re riding with each other, and I think when you do that, you trust and you believe and you feel a bit deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the cruel world of 2020s Washington Mystics basketball, a competitive loss to one of the top four teams in the WNBA would\u2019ve sponsored positive break-room conversations the following morning. In this world, though, the Mystics (17-13) had won four straight, including three against the league\u2019s second-, third- and fourth-best teams. They kicked this Wings group (19-12) around in an 81-75 win Friday. A second showing and a chance to double down? Yep, that meant something.<\/p>\n

So cue the roar, no matter how messy the product that initiated it may have been.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve grown a lot from the reps that we\u2019ve gotten. A lot of close games,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve won some. We\u2019ve lost some. We\u2019ve learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mystics didn\u2019t lead once until the final three minutes. At halftime, they were down by 15. The primary culprit was their transition defense, which Johnson heralded before the game. But the Wings scored 14 points on the fast break in the first half. The Mystics scored 2. Each entered their locker rooms feeling like they had something more to prove.<\/p>\n

During its recent winning streak, Washington hadn\u2019t scored fewer than 81 points. The trio of Citron, Shakira Austin and Kiki Iriafen blossomed into one of the WNBA\u2019s best offensive cores, with all three averaging at least 15 points per game on the season and 17 since July 20.<\/p>\n

A bit of a celebration even unfolded at the Mystics\u2019 Wednesday morning shoot-around. Austin, the typical third fiddle in that group, had been named AP WNBA player of the week. She\u2019s \u201cone of the best frontcourt players in the league,\u201d Johnson said. How she didn\u2019t receive an all-star bid? \u201cWho knows,\u201d he said. She\u2019d focus on end-of-season awards, he said.<\/p>\n

Her game-leading 27 points certainly did not make for an awful start \u2014 a season-high. After a lull in June, she hasn\u2019t scored fewer than 11 in 10 games. This August evening, she was the spark.<\/p>

Read more Trump touts tax breaks at Las Vegas rally amid voters\u2019 economic frustration<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we get out there, the ball is up and we\u2019re trying to win a game,\u201d Austin said. \u201cWe just had to go out there and just want it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her supporting cast came alive down the stretch, even if Citron and Iriafen, the typical stars, finished with only 23. In their wake, rookie guard Cotie McMahon shined. Her 18 paced only behind Austin, and when she dropped in a crucial jumper in the final minute \u2026 whew.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe got a little different crazy over there,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been in me,\u201d McMahon said. \u201cMy coaches and my teammates, they don\u2019t want anything else from me. They don\u2019t want me to bottle it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before any of this, Wings coach Jose Fernandez said Dallas needed to control the game\u2019s speed. \u201cWith dictating pace, shot selection is crucial,\u201d he said. And the Wings did that perfectly in the first half, shooting well over 45 percent from deep until late. Along the way, four Wings finished in double digits, Jessica Shepard leading with 22. When Washington\u2019s offense bubbled, though, Dallas lost control. Three turnovers in the final minute certainly were of note. As were its 12 total points in the final quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur schemes are pretty solid,\u201d Johnson said of the evening. \u201cJust a much, much better account of ourselves on the defensive end.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what makes this crescendo most piercing is the fitting perfection of the moment it has arrived. In early August last year, the Mystics sent away Aaliyah Edwards and all-star Brittney Sykes before the trade deadline, opting to reset. Young bench contributors got far more minutes than they signed up for, and the Mystics sputtered to their third consecutive losing season.<\/p>\n

Running it back with largely that same band to begin this year, Washington\u2019s roster could\u2019ve interchanged positions and question marks. But there\u2019s this wily thing in sports \u2014 and life \u2014 known as improvement. In an age in which franchises often opt to spend a bigger buck for the immediately proven thing than develop the next one, certain instances stand out.<\/p>\n

Win after win, Washington certainly does. It has more victories with two months left than it finished with either of the past two years. And squarely in the playoff hunt at eighth in the WNBA, the Mystics decided at Sunday\u2019s trade deadline to keep their hand tight. Why? The youngsters, like Austin and McMahon, are developing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growth that they have now is a by-product of just that daily work,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhich is something that you couldn\u2019t necessarily have imagined with this young of a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no need for imagination here. The Mystics didn\u2019t trade away their stars. They didn\u2019t collapse when down 20. And, as the WNBA certainly learned Wednesday night, they didn\u2019t lose yet again.<\/p>

Read more GOP senator obtains a copy of Fauci\u2019s phone as contempt vote looms<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A night of big shots finished as silently as it could on the court, and as disruptively as it could in the WNBA ecosphere, with the Mystics winning 96-92.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMystics come back to beat Wings for fifth-straight win - 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=8749\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mystics come back to beat Wings for fifth-straight win - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A night of big shots finished as silently as it could on the court, and as disruptively as it could in the WNBA ecosphere, with the Mystics winning 96-92.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8749\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-06T05:35:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/76e61175ae3dc7a130d3281e4ae80ce5-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=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Mystics come back to beat Wings for fifth-straight win\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-06T05:35:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749\"},\"wordCount\":1059,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c7413c7d94e4066e3cf4a0e117ff6468-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749\",\"name\":\"Mystics come back to beat Wings for fifth-straight win - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c7413c7d94e4066e3cf4a0e117ff6468-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-06T05:35:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8749#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c7413c7d94e4066e3cf4a0e117ff6468-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c7413c7d94e4066e3cf4a0e117ff6468-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 05: Cotie McMahon #23 of the Washington Mystics celebrates after the game against the Dallas Wings at CareFirst Arena on August 5, 2026 in Washington, DC. 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