The Washington Mystics started a stretch of six games in 11 days by hosting the struggling Seattle Storm yesterday.
Washington are the youngest team in the WNBA, with only two rostered players beyond their second season of WNBA competition, but its young roster are expected to be tested by the busy schedule.
Meanwhile, Seattle (6-18) has won three of its last six games but are still next-to-last in the league standings.
Photo: AFP
Washington (10-10) has won five of its last eight, but the Mystics come off a brutal 62-49 home loss to Golden State on Monday. Washington set a league season-low for scoring in the loss and tallied just 16 points in the second half, marking a league low for a half since 2021.
Kiki Iriafen scored 12 points and nine boards and Shakira Austin added 11 points and 11 rebounds. So meager was Washington’s offensive output that Iriafen and Austin’s total of nine made field goals equaled the rest of the team’s output combined.
The Mystics missed guard Sonia Citron, out due to injury for her second straight game. Citron is averaging a team-high 18.6 points per game during her second season, and Washington are hopeful of her return from right knee soreness.
“I think we’re still growing and getting better,” Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said. “It’s really, really hard to win in this league ... and we’ve got to lean into our player development and our daily work.”
Seattle lost to the host Atlanta Dream 89-78 last Thursday. The Storm trailed by 17 points at halftime, digging too deep of a hole to overcome in the second half. Natisha Hiedeman tallied 20 points and grabbed five boards and center Dominique Malonga added 15 points and nine rebounds. Rookie Flau’jae Johnson notched 14 points and five assists.
Coach Sonia Raman praised a second-half rally that saw Seattle trim a 20-point deficit to eight points.
“We have our standard and we know what we’re capable of,” Raman said. “It’s just a matter of building our consistency.”
Washington and Seattle have split their first two meetings, with the Storm winning 97-85 on May 24 and the Mystics fighting back with a 78-64 victory on May 27. Both of those games were played in Seattle.
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