{"id":881670,"date":"2026-06-21T01:07:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T01:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/881670\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T01:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T01:07:15","slug":"what-washington-mystics-are-learning-from-4-close-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/881670\/","title":{"rendered":"What Washington Mystics are learning from 4 close games"},"content":{"rendered":"

All season, Washington Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson has preached the importance of his players getting more experience against WNBA competition, game by game. The Mystics are the least experienced team in the league<\/a> with an average of 1.85 seasons played. That\u2019s nearly three full seasons less than the median team and more than 5.5 less than the most experienced team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no shortcut to it,\u201d Johnson told reporters before a game against the Toronto Tempo on June 12. \u201c\u2026 We need these lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fourteen games in, the Mystics have learned a lot about themselves. Many of those games have been close, including two overtime battles in their first three games of the season. Several of their eight rookies have settled into their roles and made key contributions<\/a>, and their two veterans, 26-year-old Michaela Onyenwere<\/a> and 25-year-old Shakira Austin<\/a>, are having<\/a> career years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But over the past five games, the Mystics have been learning even more from the game reps they\u2019re getting \u2014 and showing more of the payoff. Four of those games have come down to the wire, and they\u2019ve won three, including Friday\u2019s 86-83 win over the New York Liberty on the road.<\/p>\n

The five-game stretch began against the Indiana Fever on June 8, when the Mystics came back from a 17-point deficit, only to see Fever star Caitlin Clark<\/a> nail a game-winning 3-pointer<\/a> with 2.5 seconds left.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to win in the W, and playing all the way through, I thought we learned a lot,\u201d Johnson said afterward. \u201cI was incredibly proud of us in terms of our fight. We\u2019ve had moments where we\u2019re on the ropes, and to see us show that Mystics DNA \u2014 the togetherness, the toughness<\/a> \u2014 we don\u2019t even get to that moment if we don\u2019t show who we are. So we just showed D.C., the nation, ourselves just who we are on a day-in and day-out basis. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, yeah, you got to do whatever you can until the final buzzer, and we just came up short one possession there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came the game against Toronto, in which the Mystics squandered an 18-point lead before second-year guard Sonia Citron<\/a> hit the winning jump shot<\/a> with 0.5 seconds remaining. Just before Citron\u2019s shot, when the Mystics trailed by a point with 2.1 seconds left, they had only a 7.6% chance of winning, per ESPN Analytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After the Mystics were blown out in New York on Sunday, they used a 10-1 run in the final four minutes to beat the Connecticut Sun by 7 points on Wednesday. The game against the Sun featured eight lead changes and six ties.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s rematch against New York was possibly the most chaotic of all, with 12 lead changes and 19 ties. When the game started, the Mystics only had about a 20% chance to win<\/a>, and that fell to 4.4% when New York led by 8 points with 4:01 left.<\/p>\n

But the least experienced team in the WNBA ripped off a 17-6 closing run against a WNBA title contender, capped by a layup from second-year forward Kiki Iriafen<\/a> with 27 seconds left. That ended a streak of 12 straight losses to the Liberty across the regular season and playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge, huge signs of growth,\u201d Johnson said afterward. \u201c\u2026 We\u2019re trying to find ways where we can get better, and that\u2019s in the game, but that\u2019s also individually. So it\u2019s just all part of this journey we\u2019re on together, and I\u2019m just really proud of them [and] how they applied some of the things that we\u2019ve learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Johnson\u2019s eyes, Friday\u2019s win wasn\u2019t just significant because it improved the Mystics\u2019 record to 7-7 or because it gave the players a boost ahead of two games against the first-place Minnesota Lynx. He said on Wednesday that wins like the ones they\u2019ve have had lately go \u201cinto that memory bank,\u201d so the players can draw from them in the future.<\/p>\n

And in a season where the Mystics are prioritizing player development, how the Mystics have won these close games \u2014 and battled back against the Fever \u2014 has been especially encouraging. They\u2019ve limited their turnovers, tuned into the scouting report, made defensive stops with the game on the line and seen several players step up. All of that is essential for long-term success in the WNBA.<\/p>\n

Overall, the Mystics are averaging 16.1 turnovers per game<\/a>, which is second-worst in the league behind Indiana. They took care of the ball better against Connecticut and New York but committed 22 against Toronto and 15 against Indiana. Yet in all four games, they\u2019ve kept their turnovers in check with the game on the line, committing three or fewer in the fourth quarter of each game.<\/p>\n

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Johnson has also seen his team remember and apply the scouting report in big moments, including down the stretch against New York. That can be challenging for a team with so many rookies because every scouting report is brand new and games are so frequent, whereas veterans remember some of what to expect from previous seasons.<\/p>\n

The Mystics staff is teaching the scout in full-team meetings and film sessions, but also in position group meetings and individual meetings. Though the players are young, the staff values their input, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s great is they\u2019re engaging with us. It\u2019s an open floor,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to just talk at them, and I think some of that learning then gets a little bit more ingrained because there\u2019s some back-and-forth and there\u2019s, \u2018Hey, Coach, this is what I saw.\u2019 And \u2026 it\u2019s been an enjoyable process to see them take all of that and then transfer it to the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

That understanding of the scouting report has helped the Mystics\u2019 defense improve in recent weeks. Over the past five games, the Mystics are allowing 104.0 points per 100 possessions<\/a>, down from 108.1 over the first nine games. They\u2019re also closing out defensive possessions with rebounds more often and committing about four fewer fouls per game.<\/p>\n

Opponents are shooting better against the Mystics in fourth quarters<\/a> than they are overall, but lately, the Mystics have gotten stops at some of the most critical times.<\/p>\n

On Friday, for example, they got a game-saving stop after Iriafen\u2019s layup and a subsequent free throw gave them a 3-point lead with 11.8 seconds left. Iriafen switched on the perimeter to defend Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu<\/a> and moved her feet well, forcing Ionescu to miss a 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left. After an offensive rebound, Mystics guard Cotie McMahon<\/a> recovered well to contest Liberty forward Satou Sabally<\/a>\u2019s desperation three at the buzzer.<\/p>\n

The Mystics have also gotten timely contributions up and down the roster. Iriafen sprained her ankle against Indiana and didn\u2019t return until Friday, and Austin also missed Wednesday\u2019s game against the Sun. That left rookies Lauren Betts<\/a> and Angela Dugali\u0107<\/a> as the only two true post players against Connecticut. Both rose to the challenge of facing 6\u20199 center Brittney Griner<\/a> and the rest of the Sun frontcourt. Betts in particular has elevated her game lately, averaging 10.2 points on 66.7% shooting<\/a> in her last five games.<\/p>\n

\"WashingtonWashington Mystics center Lauren Betts (51) looks to make a move against Connecticut Sun center Brittney Griner (42) during a game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on June 17, 2026. (Photo credit: Chris Poss | The IX Basketball)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of the people who stepped up from the bench,\u201d Onyenwere told reporters after Iriafen went down on June 8. \u201cThat\u2019s the way our team is built is like, \u2018Hey, you got to be ready for your time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Second-year guard Lucy Olsen<\/a> has also been a bright spot recently, playing 31 total minutes in the last two games after getting just\u00a044 total minutes in the previous 12<\/a>. She gives the Mystics another ball-handling option off the bench and scored 6 points against the Sun.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Mystics\u2019 stars have shone. Citron had the buzzer-beater against Toronto and combined with Onyenwere to score 48 of the team\u2019s 88 points against the Sun. And Iriafen had 20 points on Friday, including a game-high 9 in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

None of those were bigger than the 2 she scored with 27 seconds left. The game was tied at 83, and the Mystics had to improvise late in the shot clock. Point guard Georgia Amoore<\/a> passed the ball to Citron on the perimeter, and Citron drove by Liberty center Jonquel Jones<\/a>. Liberty forward Breanna Stewart<\/a> sensed the danger and left Iriafen to help, but Citron punished her by lobbing the ball to Iriafen for a layup.<\/p>\n

\u201c[That was] definitely not what was supposed to happen,\u201d Citron told reporters postgame. \u201cI think there was a bunch of mismatches. \u2026 I know Georgia was trying to get me the ball for the mismatch, and then I drove, and I saw Stewie step up, and I saw Kiki behind her, so I knew that was an easy layup for Kiks. So it worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Mystics have now played 40 \u201cclutch minutes,\u201d<\/a> which are when the score is within 5 points and there are five minutes or fewer left in regulation or overtime. That is the third-most clutch minutes in the WNBA, even though the Mystics have played the second-fewest total minutes<\/a>. The lessons from those high-pressure situations are accumulating for this young team, which partly explains their recent success.<\/p>\n

But the Mystics won\u2019t get ahead of themselves by focusing too much on the wins. Those are satisfying, but player development is the reward they\u2019re chasing the most.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We\u2019re] keeping the big picture in mind,\u201d Johnson said after the win over Toronto. \u201c\u2026 We understand that it\u2019s not just these games, but it\u2019s all the moments in between that we\u2019re pouring into [the players], that they\u2019re taking the coaching, they\u2019re learning from mistakes, they\u2019re learning from successes as well. And so that\u2019s where I try to center myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, there are moments where Johnson can\u2019t help but picture what this team could look like in a few years \u2014 and he likes what he sees. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole lot of goodness in there,\u201d he said on Friday.<\/p>\n

Though the Mystics aren\u2019t there yet, Johnson feels the same way about what he sees on the practice court every day. He\u2019s thrilled about how his young roster is starting to settle itself in a deep and experienced league. The clearest proof of his mindset came on June 8, from what Johnson said less than an hour after Clark\u2019s game-winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI might have the best job in the W,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s just really fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The IX Basketball. The IX Basketball\u2019s editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.<\/p>\n

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