Mystics Finish The 2024 Season With A Historic Victory (9-22-24)
By: Jaden Golding
Headline Photo Credit: WNBA
Washington D.C. – The Washington Mystics finished the season with a (14-26) record narrowly missing a postseason entry against the New York Liberty.
Washington went 2-2 down the stretch of their last four games. Dropping back-to-back contests against Atlanta and New York. The loss to Atlanta on Sept.15 was a huge blow to the Mystics playoff chances as Atlanta tied them for the 8th spot and if Washington had won Atlanta would’ve been eliminated from the race.
Following that game was the final road game of the season in New York where the Liberty controlled the game from start to finish cruising to an 87-71 victory and allowing Atlanta to go ahead by a game.
Indiana (20-20) played the Connecticut Sun in today’s opening round of the playoffs.
Vs. Indiana
The Mystics held on to defeat the Indiana Fever 92-91 on Sep.19 at Capital One Arena. Thursday evening’s game was the highest-attended WNBA game in history with a crowd of 20,711.
The Fever jumped out to a hot start in the opening quarter, as they could score inside and outside at will to lead 20-2 with 4:38 left.
D.C. responded, as their bench outscored Indiana the rest of the quarter 20-6 to only trail 24-22.
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Sika Kone finished the night combining for 32 points off the bench. Kone accounted for 20 of the 32 points on 7-10 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.
Kristy Wallace led the Fever, scoring 17 points shooting 6-8 from the field and 3-4 from downtown. Wallace played some exclusive minutes as the Fever rested their starters in the later part of the game, she played well displaying the offensive range.
Washington’s offense in the second and third quarters started catching rhythm from inside and outside the floor. They outscored the Fever 30-21 in both quarters, amassing a 17-point lead at one point.
In the fourth, the game tightened up highlighted by Indiana going on a run nearly three-and-a-half minutes, where they outscored the Mystics 12-3 to trail 92-91 with 1:13 left in the game.
Off a Mystics timeout, Indiana stole the ball but missed the go-ahead layup. Washington turned around and missed a layup on their next possession. The Fever had the final possession with 22 seconds left, where Katie Lou Samuelson missed a pullup jumper but Grace Berger grabbed the offensive rebound taking it back to the free-throw line and missing the potential 19-foot game-winner.
Forward Emily Engstler scored 17 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists. Ariel Atkins also had 17 and Brittney Sykes finished with 12.
NaLyssa Smith scored 16 for the Fever. Aaliyah Boston had 10 points in 18 limited minutes of action.
