NFL
The 2026 Washington Mystics will be a fun team to watch. Most people know that last season, under team president Michael Winger, it was time for a new direction. That vexing team overachieved, finishing one game short of the playoffs. This offseason, the intent of this rebuild on their youth is showing in the roster’s depths. The core players for the Mystics are clearly Shakira Austin, Kiki Iriafen, and Sonia Citron.
In their first road win game, Toronto Tempo, while Shakira Austin sealed the game with four consecutive free throws. Three stats that stood out. Shooting 59% as a team was a glaring stat, as this team was stellar at getting to the line last season. Shooting 39% from the field, and shooting 21% from three. One game, but there are areas for improvement.
The frontcourt duo of Shakira Austin and Kiki Iraifen finished with a double-double each. Sonia Citron led all scorers with 26 points. The Washington Mystics totaled 44 rebounds, tied for the most boards (July 26, 2025, vs. Seattle) in Head Coach Sydney Johnson’s tenure (2025-now). This is also the eighth time they have reached the 40-board mark in that span. That’s tied for the fourth-most such games in the WNBA during that period. Washington now owns a 5-3 record in those games.
They face an expansion team that features a former Mystic player (Brittney Sykes), who scored the first two points in franchise history, for the Tempo. The Mystics took advantage of a team that will have growing pains but still has an undefined identity. Led by head coach Sandy Brondello, the team will need to work on its offense. Mabrey and Sykes are their first and second options, but it must be consistent.
Sunday afternoon, the Mystics took a Liberty team that maintained most of the core with the addition of Satou Sabally. She, however, is still not cleared to return to the court. It took overtime, but the Mystics hung with one of the best teams in the second game of the season. Austin and Iriafen have kicked off their seasons with two straight double-doubles, the first Mystics players to start a season with two such performances since Chamique Holdsclaw did so from May 23-31, 2003.
Tonight also marks the third game in which they both reached the 10-10 mark, tied with Chamique Holdsclaw and Murriel Page for the most of any duo in Mystics history. Amoore did not play in overtime because Coach Johnson said he didn’t want to overuse his point guard, who is coming back from an ACL injury. However, she did tie a record for finishing with a game-high-tying seven assists, tied for the second-most assists in a Mystics rookie’s home debut.
Bottom line, we are two games into the season, and this team has a lot of fire. Coach Sydney Johnson will definitely be working out the best rotations, and there will be growing pains, but this team is different from last year. The Mystics could play spoiler, but they can surprise many if they stay on course. Bottom line, this Mystics team will definitely be fun to watch this season as Coach Johnson figures out the best rotations. Will there be struggles? Yes. Will their games come down to the wire? Yes. Will we see players like Betts, Amoore, Prosper, McMahon, and Harmon have moments? Yes. That is what a young team should be allowed to go through. The optimism around this team is high, and the Mystics should not be taken for granted.
The Mystics have a little break until Friday, as they hit the road for four games starting with the Indiana Fever on May 15th.
