{"id":1023303,"date":"2026-08-25T15:07:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1023303\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:07:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:07:22","slug":"shakira-austin-powers-mystics-to-first-playoff-berth-since-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1023303\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakira Austin powers Mystics to first playoff berth since 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, it was up in the air whether starting center Shakira Austin<\/a> would play for the Washington Mystics against the Portland Fire. She was a late addition to the injury report with knee soreness, and the team wanted to see how her knee felt in warmups before clearing her to play.<\/p>\n

It was also up in the air when the Mystics would clinch a playoff spot. They needed a win over Portland as well as a loss by the Chicago Sky to secure their first playoff appearance since 2023.<\/p>\n

But all those things came together for the Mystics on Sunday: Behind a career-high 31 points and 10 rebounds from Austin, they beat the Fire 105-100, and the Sky lost<\/a> to the Indiana Fever.<\/p>\n

That postseason berth cements one of the WNBA\u2019s biggest surprises \u2014 and feel-good stories \u2014 of the season. The Mystics were expected to be rebuilding<\/a>, but they\u2019re 22-15 with wins over every other team in the league. Per Mystics PR and the Elias Sports Bureau, the Mystics are the youngest team in WNBA history to make the playoffs, when weighting the players\u2019 average age by minutes played.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just absolutely elated,\u201d second-year Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson told reporters postgame. \u201c\u2026 It\u2019s a clear step forward for our organization. We started the season wanting to ascend and really build on Year 1, and, jeez, I mean, to make the playoffs in Year 2 with the youth of this group is absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

All season, Johnson has preached to his players that it\u2019s extremely hard to win in the WNBA, and they experienced that again on Sunday. Johnson had to call timeouts early in the first and third quarters as the Fire blitzed the Mystics out of the locker room.<\/p>\n

Portland started the game on a 14-4 run, and the Mystics trailed for nearly the entire first quarter. Austin had 2 points on 1-for-5 shooting, and she told reporters postgame that she was \u201cdisappointed\u201d in how she played in the period.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I was a big reason of why they were able to get such a big lead,\u201d Austin said. \u201c\u2026 So I just wanted to be able to play a little bit more at my speed, at my pace, just getting out of my head a little bit. Sometimes when I have something lingering with my body a little, I think it really speeds me up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe looked a little rusty [in the first quarter], and she actually wasn\u2019t feeling that great from yesterday,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cSo she really powered through to give us an unbelievable effort [in the] second, third, fourth quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin found her rhythm in the second quarter, scoring 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting to help the Mystics pull within 2 points at halftime. She had an early turnover, but on the next possession, she pulled down an offensive rebound with four Fire players around her and split them to get the putback<\/a>. About a minute later, she stole the ball, then rebounded two straight misses and scored to make sure the possession paid off for the Mystics.<\/p>\n

Austin, who prides herself on leading the Mystics defensively, also had two blocks in the quarter. For the second block, she slid over as the help defender as Portland guard Carla Leite<\/a> tossed up a circus shot near the rim. Austin smashed the ball so hard with her right hand that it sailed almost to the 3-point line before it hit the court, and teammate Sonia Citron<\/a> outraced two Portland players to grab it. From there, Citron had just one defender to beat in transition and drew an and-one, which gave the Mystics their first lead of the night at 40-39.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I try to do is just hold [Austin] to the standard that she wants, which is really, really high,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cShe wants to be supported, and she wants to be challenged. And so I\u2019ve got to balance that. \u2026 I got on her during the game to say, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re going to keep coaching you hard,\u2019 and she\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah!\u2019 She gets it. She\u2019s fierce, man. She\u2019s fierce.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third quarter felt like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu from the first, as the Fire started on an 11-1 run and eventually led by as many as 14 points with 3:50 left in the quarter. But the Mystics were undeterred. They\u2019d already come back from five double-digit deficits this season, including a 20-point hole against the Dallas Wings<\/a> on Aug. 5, so they knew they could do it again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just super proud of the way that we fought,\u201d Iriafen told reporters afterward. \u201cWe did not play the way we needed to in the first quarter. \u2026 Even the third quarter, we did not start off the way that we needed to, but we were relentless. We were talking to each other. We didn\u2019t allow each other to hang our heads. \u2026 When it was someone\u2019s opportunity to go to work, they went to work. \u2026 The grit that we had today is going to take us super far.\u201d<\/p>\n

After scoring 5 points in the third quarter, the fourth quarter was Austin\u2019s time to go to work. She had 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting, including scoring on the Mystics\u2019 first three possessions to set the tone. Her baskets chipped away at a 5-point deficit, and once the Mystics tied the game on a 3-pointer from wing Michaela Onyenwere<\/a> with 7:28 left, they never let Portland lead again.<\/p>\n

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Austin also played a crucial role in sealing the win. With the Mystics clinging to a 4-point lead with about two minutes to go, she caught the ball near the free-throw line, took one dribble and pivoted twice to get around Fire forward Emily Engstler<\/a> for a bank shot from 7 feet out. Then, after missing two free throws with 35 seconds left, Austin atoned by making two with 14 seconds left. Those pushed the Mystics\u2019 lead back to 6 and gave her a career high in scoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the biggest All-Star snub of the year,\u201d said Johnson, who has brought up the topic repeatedly since the All-Star break. \u201cAnd I think she\u2019s a lock for [WNBA] Most Improved [Player]. She\u2019s a lock for All-Defense. [She] needs serious consideration for All-W.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we take every matchup personally,\u201d Austin said about herself and Iriafen, who had 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 10 rebounds. \u201cEvery time we step on the floor, we want to be the best bigs and \u2026 really just [set] the tone. We know we\u2019re going to get the ball, the ball\u2019s going to flow through our post, so really just being efficient with that and just being aggressive every time we step on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Several of Austin\u2019s teammates had big games, too, from Iriafen\u2019s double-double to Citron, point guard Georgia Amoore<\/a> and reserve guard Cotie McMahon<\/a> all scoring in double figures. Backup center Lauren Betts<\/a> had 5 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and in her 17 minutes, the Mystics outscored the Fire by 22 points.<\/p>\n

Austin was quick to praise them all postgame, but her own importance to the team cannot be overstated \u2014 especially with the tear she\u2019s been on lately.<\/p>\n

Overall, Austin is averaging 17.0 points<\/a> on 48.5% shooting, 9.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game this season. But in 11 games since the All-Star break, she has averaged 21.5 points on 52.4% shooting and 9.6 rebounds per game, with seven double-doubles. Along with that productivity, she brings the energy and fire<\/a> that teammates like Iriafen and McMahon feed off of<\/a> and draw confidence from.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of go as she goes,\u201d Iriafen said after a win over the Toronto Tempo on Wednesday. \u201cHer energy is contagious. She\u2019s so vocal. \u2026 Everything that she\u2019s done post-All-Star, we\u2019ve seen it. I mean, I\u2019ve seen it. I have to play against her every day in practice. But you can just see another level of confidence and just determination. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201c[And] her leadership, her voice, I would say that\u2019s probably the biggest area of growth. \u2026 She has an opportunity to lead this team, and she\u2019s been doing a great job from Day 1. Regardless of if she thinks she has a great performance or not, she\u2019s been pretty consistent with that. So that\u2019s been really huge for our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WashingtonWashington Mystics center Shakira Austin (0) and guard Rori Harmon leave the court after a win over the Portland Fire at Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 23, 2026. (Photo credit: Soobum Im | Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

It was doubly fitting, then, that Austin was the one to carry the Mystics to the playoffs. Not only is she the Mystics\u2019 emotional and defensive anchor, but she is also the only player who was on the roster for the franchise\u2019s last playoff appearance. (Guard Betnijah Laney-Hamilton<\/a> was on the opposite side, helping the New York Liberty sweep the Mystics.) Austin has spoken about how the Mystics not winning a playoff game in her five-year career doesn\u2019t sit well with her, and now she has a chance to change that.<\/p>\n

From the beginning of the season, the Mystics\u2019 mindset was \u201c44 and more\u201d \u2014 playing 44 regular-season games, then hopefully more in the playoffs. They\u2019d been in or near playoff position for much of the 2025 season, but after they traded away veteran guard Brittney Sykes<\/a> and others at the trade deadline<\/a>, they lost their final 10 games<\/a> and saw their playoff hopes slip away like sand in an hourglass.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, we were so close \u2026 and then we just kept losing and dropping off,\u201d Iriafen said on Sunday. \u201cSo \u2026 to be able to fix that going into this year, I think, is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson credited Iriafen for coming up with \u201c44 and more,\u201d whereas he\u2019s been more intent on taking the season one day at a time and trying to maximize players\u2019 development than on looking toward September. But those concepts all turned out to be compatible.<\/p>\n

The Mystics did take things one day at a time, which helped them not miss any of the lessons Johnson wanted them to learn along the way. And there were many of them, as the Mystics have played by far the most clutch minutes<\/a> in the WNBA, endured a four-overtime game<\/a> against the Fire in June, and learned how to win consistently during a seven-game winning streak in July and August. In those moments, the player development shone<\/a> up and down the roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t start the season with where you want to go, then you\u2019re kind of floating,\u201d Johnson said on Aug. 7. \u201cAnd so I think \u201844 and more\u2019 is really wanting to try to make the postseason. \u2026 So there\u2019s the goal-setting, and then there\u2019s a way to get there. Those are the things that have merged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, with the playoffs a certainty rather than just an aspiration, the Mystics will keep the same mindset and keep trying to raise their standard. Instead of looking at the standings and speculating about their seed, they\u2019re focused on cleaning up their defense<\/a> for their next game on Tuesday, because they feel like it\u2019s slipped a little bit over the past week.<\/p>\n

And though they did celebrate clinching a playoff spot<\/a> in the locker room after the game, they didn\u2019t dwell on it long. All season, they\u2019ve moved on from wins and losses alike when the clock strikes midnight. That\u2019s because the Cinderella story of the 2026 season knows it can\u2019t turn into a pumpkin in August, before it has a chance to enjoy the postseason ball.<\/p>\n

Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The IX Sports. The IX Sports\u2019 editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.<\/p>\n

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