2024 Washington Mystics season

2024 Washington Mystics season
CoachEric Thibault
ArenaEntertainment and Sports Arena
Attendance6,542 per game
Results
Record14–26 (.350)
Place5th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Team Leaders
PointsAriel Atkins – 14.9 ppg
ReboundsShakira Austin – 6.8 rpg
AssistsJulie Vanloo – 4.3 apg

The 2024 Washington Mystics season was the franchise's 27th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and their second season under head coach Eric Thibault.

The season tipped off on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at home against the New York Liberty.[1] The Mystics lost the game by five-points, and the opening month of May did not improve much after that. The Mystics went on to lose all eight games they played in May, with the closest being a three-point loss to the Phoenix Mercury on May 23. The Mystics' losing streak continued through twelve games and they won their first game of the season on June 11, versus the Atlanta Dream. Including that win, the Mystics won four out of their next five games, with the only loss coming against Indiana. They lost their last two games of the month, including an overtime contest against Connecticut. They finished the month 4–7. Their fortunes did not improve in July, as they finished 2–4 before the league went into its Olympic break. The Mystics lost the first three games out of the break, but then won the next three, including a two point win at Seattle and a four-point road win over Chicago. They could not win their final game of the month and finished with a 3–4 record in August. The Mystics were a greatly improved team in September, as they won four out of their first five games of the month to draw within reaching distance of the eighth playoff seed. However, they lost the next game to fellow 8th seed contenders Atlanta, and then lost two days later to New York, a loss which allowed New York to clinch the first overall seed. The Mystics finished their season with a one-point win over Indiana. The Mystics finished ninth overall with a record of 14–26.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2024 WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 6 Aaliyah Edwards  Canada UConn
2 21 Kaylynne Truong  United States Gonzaga
3 30 Nastja Claessens  Belgium Castors Braine (Belgium)

Transactions

Date Transaction
January 11, 2024 Extended a Qualifying Offer to Li Meng[2]
January 13, 2024 Cored Elena Delle Donne[2]
February 1, 2024 Signed Karlie Samuelson[3]
Signed Elissa Cunane to a Training Camp Contract[4]
Signed Emily Engstler to a Training Camp Contract[5]
Signed DiDi Richards to a Training Camp Contract[6]
Signed Julie Vanloo to a Training Camp Contract[7]
March 12, 2024 Signed Stefanie Dolson[8][9]
April 17, 2024 Signed Kaylynne Truong, Honesty Scott-Grayson, and Jakia Brown-Turner to Rookie Contracts[2]
April 18, 2024 Signed Aaliyah Edwards to a Rookie Contract[2]
April 24, 2024 Exercised Team Option on Shakira Austin[10]
May 7, 2024 Acquired Bernadett Határ from the Connecticut Sun and the Sun's second round 2025 draft pick in exchange for Queen Egbo[11]
May 9, 2024 Waived Honesty Scott-Grayson[12]
May 11, 2024 Acquired Jade Melbourne from Seattle Storm in exchange for third round 2025 draft pick
May 12, 2024 Waived Jakia Brown-Turner, Elissa Cunane, and Kaylynne Truong
June 28, 2024 Signed Jakia Brown-Turner to a hardship contract[13]
July 2, 2024 Released Jakia Brown-Turner from hardship contract[14]
July 4, 2024 Signed Jakia Brown-Turner to a 7-day hardship contract[15]
July 12, 2024 Signed Jakia Brown-Turner to a second 7-day contract
August 13, 2024 Released Jakia Brown-Turner from second 7-day contract[16]
August 20, 2024 Acquired Olivia Époupa, Sika Koné, and a 2026 second round pick from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Myisha Hines-Allen[17]
Waived Olivia Époupa and DiDi Richards[18]
Acquired Sug Sutton and 2025 3rd Round Pick from the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for the rights to Klara Lundquist[19]

Roster changes

Roster

2024 Washington Mystics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
G 7 United States Atkins, Ariel 5' 8" (1.73m) 167 lb (76kg) 1996-07-30 Texas 6
F/C 0 United States Austin, Shakira Injured 6' 5" (1.96m) 190 lb (86kg) 2000-07-25 Mississippi 2
C 31 United States Dolson, Stefanie 6' 5" (1.96m) 235 lb (107kg) 01-08-1992 Connecticut 10
F 24 Canada Edwards, Aaliyah Injured 6' 3" (1.91m) – 07-09-2002 Connecticut R
F 21 United States Engstler, Emily 6' 1" (1.85m) 180 lb (82kg) 05-01-2000 Louisville 2
F 3 Mali Koné, Sika 6' 4" (1.93m) 180 lb (82kg) 2002-07-13 Mali 1
G 5 Australia Melbourne, Jade 5' 11" (1.8m) 145 lb (66kg) 2002-8-18 Australia 1
G 44 United States Samuelson, Karlie 6' 0" (1.83m) 160 lb (73kg) 1995-05-10 Stanford 5
G 1 United States Sutton, Sug 5' 8" (1.73m) 140 lb (64kg) 12-17-1998 Texas 2
G 15 United States Sykes, Brittney 5' 9" (1.75m) 154 lb (70kg) 1994-02-07 Syracuse 7
G 35 Belgium Vanloo, Julie 5' 8" (1.73m) – 02-10-1993 Belgium R
G 32 United States Walker-Kimbrough, Shatori 5' 9" (1.75m) 140 lb (64kg) 1995-05-18 Maryland 7
Head coach
United States Eric Thibault (Missouri)
Assistant coaches
United States LaToya Sanders (North Carolina)
United States Shelley Patterson (Washington State)
United States Ashlee McGee (Austin Peay)
Athletic trainer
United States Chrisitna Kennedy
Strength and conditioning coach

Vacant

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Depth

Pos. Starter Bench
PG Brittney Sykes Julie Vanloo
Jade Melbourne
SG Ariel Atkins Sug Sutton
SF Karlie Samuelson Shatori Walker-Kimbrough
PF Shakira Austin Aaliyah Edwards
Emily Engstler
C Stefanie Dolson Sika Koné

Schedule

Pre-season

2024 pre-season game log
Total: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
May: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 May 4 @ Atlanta L 84–87 Myisha Hines-Allen (13) Edwards, Egbo, Hines-Allen (4) Julie Vanloo (8) Gateway Center Arena 0–1
2 May 8 Minnesota L 77–83 Ariel Atkins (20) Myisha Hines-Allen (6) Julie Vanloo (6) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,112 		0–2
2024 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2024 game log
Total: 14–26 (Home: 5–15; Road: 9–11)
May: 0–8 (Home: 0–3; Road: 0–5)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 May 14 New York L 80–85 Ariel Atkins (20) Brittney Sykes (10) Brittney Sykes (7) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		0–1
2 May 17 @ Connecticut L 77–84 Karlie Samuelson (18) Shakira Austin (9) Julie Vanloo (8) Mohegan Sun Arena
6,874 		0–2
3 May 19 Seattle L 75–84 Ariel Atkins (19) Aaliyah Edwards (11) Julie Vanloo (5) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		0–3
4 May 21 @ Los Angeles L 68–70 Austin, Vanloo (12) Shakira Austin (8) Julie Vanloo (9) Walter Pyramid
3,627 		0–4
5 May 23 @ Phoenix L 80–83 Ariel Atkins (16) Julie Vanloo (7) Myisha Hines-Allen (5) Footprint Center
7,474 		0–5
6 May 25 @ Seattle L 69–101 Karlie Samuelson (16) Atkins, Edwards, Hines-Allen (5) Hines-Allen, Vanloo (3) Climate Pledge Arena
8,846 		0–6
7 May 29 Atlanta L 67–73 Ariel Atkins (21) Shakira Austin (9) Julie Vanloo (5) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		0–7
8 May 31 @ New York L 79–90 Ariel Atkins (15) Atkins, Hines-Allen (7) Julie Vanloo (7) Barclays Center
9,878 		0–8
June : 4–7 (Home: 3–4; Road: 1–3)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
9 June 4 @ Connecticut L 59–76 Aaliyah Edwards (14) Aaliyah Edwards (9) Julie Vanloo (5) Mohegan Sun Arena
5,346 		0–9
10 June 6 Chicago L 71–79 Aaliyah Edwards (23) Aaliyah Edwards (14) Julie Vanloo (7) Capital One Arena
10,000 		0–10
11 June 7 Indiana L 83–85 Stefanie Dolson (19) Aaliyah Edwards (12) Julie Vanloo (6) Capital One Arena
20,333 		0–11
12 June 9 @ New York L 88–93 Jade Melbourne (21) Myisha Hines-Allen (8) Myisha Hines-Allen (7) Barclays Center
12,477 		0–12
13 June 11 @ Atlanta W 87–68 Atkins, Sykes (18) Edwards, Hines-Allen, Samuelson (6) Ariel Atkins (5) Gateway Center Arena
3,260 		1–12
14 June 14 Chicago W 83–81 Ariel Atkins (29) Aaliyah Edwards (9) Stefanie Dolson (5) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		2–12
15 June 19 @ Indiana L 81–88 Ariel Atkins (27) Stefanie Dolson (7) Julie Vanloo (8) Gainbridge Fieldhouse
17,274 		2–13
16 June 22 Dallas W 97–69 Emily Engstler (23) Stefanie Dolson (10) Julie Vanloo (6) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		3–13
17 June 23 W 92–84 Stefanie Dolson (18) Stefanie Dolson (8) Ariel Atkins (7) 4–13
18 June 27 Connecticut L 91–94 (OT) Myisha Hines-Allen (21) Myisha Hines-Allen (7) Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (6) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		4–14
19 June 29 Las Vegas L 77–88 Stefanie Dolson (23) Dolson, Edwards (7) Julie Vanloo (8) 4–15
July : 2–4 (Home: 0–2; Road: 2–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
20 July 2 @ Los Angeles W 82–80 Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (17) Stefanie Dolson (8) Ariel Atkins (5) Crypto.com Arena
9,164 		5–15
21 July 4 @ Las Vegas L 77–98 Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (19) Emily Engstler (8) Jade Melbourne (6) Michelob Ultra Arena
10,376 		5–16
22 July 6 @ Minnesota L 67–74 Atkins, Walker-Kimbrough (15) Myisha Hines-Allen (11) Myisha Hines-Allen (6) Target Center
7,610 		5–17
23 July 10 @ Indiana W 89–84 Ariel Atkins (26) Myisha Hines-Allen (9) Stefanie Dolson (6) Gainbridge Fieldhouse
17,274 		6–17
24 July 14 Las Vegas L 77–89 Ariel Atkins (36) Stefanie Dolson (6) Julie Vanloo (7) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		6–18
25 July 16 Phoenix L 87–96 Myisha Hines-Allen (18) Myisha Hines-Allen (12) Ariel Atkins (6) Capital One Arena
12,586 		6–19
August : 3–4 (Home: 1–3; Road: 2–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
26 August 15 @ Minnesota L 68–79 Ariel Atkins (12) Shakira Austin (10) Stefanie Dolson (4) Target Center
7,224 		6–20
27 August 17 Minnesota L 83–99 Stefanie Dolson (23) Aaliyah Edwards (7) Brittney Sykes (7) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		6–21
28 August 20 Seattle L 77–83 Ariel Atkins (25) Shakira Austin (9) Julie Vanloo (6) 6–22
29 August 23 Los Angeles W 80–74 Brittney Sykes (28) Shakira Austin (11) Stefanie Dolson (8) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		7–22
30 August 26 @ Seattle W 74–72 Brittney Sykes (20) Stefanie Dolson (10) Julie Vanloo (4) Climate Pledge Arena
9,535 		8–22
31 August 28 @ Chicago W 74–70 Stefanie Dolson (17) Atkins, Dolson (6) Ariel Atkins (5) Wintrust Arena
8,763 		9–22
32 August 31 Connecticut L 85–96 Ariel Atkins (15) Stefanie Dolson (7) Karlie Samuelson (5) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		9–23
September : 5–3 (Home: 1–3; Road: 4–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
33 September 3 @ Dallas W 90–86 Emily Engstler (19) Emily Engstler (10) 3 players (4) College Park Center
5,129 		10–23
34 September 5 @ Phoenix W 90–77 Karlie Samuelson (19) Aaliyah Edwards (6) Julie Vanloo (4) Footprint Center
7,709 		11–23
35 September 8 Minnesota L 71–78 Brittney Sykes (13) Stefanie Dolson (7) Atkins, Vanloo (4) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		11–24
36 September 11 @ Chicago W 89–58 Aaliyah Edwards (15) Aaliyah Edwards (10) Brittney Sykes (7) Wintrust Arena
7,948 		12–24
37 September 13 @ Atlanta W 72–69 Brittney Sykes (20) Dolson, Koné (8) Emily Engstler (4) Gateway Center Arena
3,260 		13–24
38 September 15 Atlanta L 73–76 (OT) Ariel Atkins (16) Stefanie Dolson (6) Samuelson, Sykes (3) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		13–25
39 September 17 New York L 71–87 Ariel Atkins (22) Emily Engstler (8) Karlie Samuelson (4) 13–26
40 September 19 Indiana W 92–91 Sika Koné (20) Sika Koné (7) Emily Engstler (4) Capital One Arena
20,711 		14–26
2024 season schedule

Standings

# Team W L PCT GB Conf. Home Road Cup
1 yx – New York Liberty 32 8 .800 — 16–4 16–4 16–4 5–0
2 cx – Minnesota Lynx 30 10 .750 2 14–6 16–4 14–6 4–1
3 x – Connecticut Sun 28 12 .700 4 14–6 14–6 14–6 4–1
4 x – Las Vegas Aces 27 13 .675 5 12–8 13–7 14–6 2–3
5 x – Seattle Storm 25 15 .625 7 13–7 14–6 11–9 4–1
6 x – Indiana Fever 20 20 .500 12 11–9 12–8 8–12 3–2
7 x – Phoenix Mercury 19 21 .475 13 10–10 10–10 9–11 3–2
8 x – Atlanta Dream 15 25 .375 17 7–13 8–12 7–13 1–4
9 e – Washington Mystics 14 26 .350 18 7–13 5–15 9–11 1–4
10 e – Chicago Sky 13 27 .325 19 5–15 6–14 7–13 1–4
11 e – Dallas Wings 9 31 .225 23 6–14 7–13 2–18 0–5
12 e – Los Angeles Sparks 8 32 .200 24 5–15 5–15 3–17 2–3

Notes

(#) – League Standing
c – Commissioner's Cup winners
y – Regular Season Champion
x – Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoff contention
Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings


Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
Ariel Atkins 40 40 29.9 .437 .357 .848 3.4 3.1 1.5 0.4 2.3 2.8 14.9
Brittney Sykes 18 18 23.4 .405 .271 .750 4.1 3.1 0.9 0.4 2.2 1.4 12.2
Shakira Austin 12 11 19.9 .430 .250 .667 6.8 0.9 1.3 0.9 2.4 2.5 11.8
Stefanie Dolson 39 39 25.9 .475 .465 .786 4.9 2.6 0.5 0.5 1.7 2.9 9.5
Sika Koné≠ 10 0 16.0 .433 .571 .889 4.3 1.1 0.4 0.2 0.9 2.0 8.6
Karlie Samuelson 29 19 24.5 .409 .398 .923 2.6 2.1 0.9 0.0 0.9 1.7 8.4
Myisha Hines-Allen† 27 10 19.1 .489 .359 .829 4.9 2.7 0.6 0.1 1.4 1.9 8.0
Aaliyah Edwards 34 17 21.8 .490 .000 .507 5.6 1.4 0.7 0.8 1.5 2.7 7.6
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough 40 2 22.1 .415 .330 .806 1.7 1.9 1.1 0.5 1.4 1.0 7.5
Julie Vanloo 40 34 23.2 .346 .324 .667 1.6 4.3 0.5 0.0 2.6 2.2 7.4
Emily Engstler 32 3 14.5 .490 .474 .818 4.0 1.5 0.6 0.8 0.7 1.5 6.2
Jade Melbourne 37 0 14.1 .434 .357 .714 1.5 1.6 0.6 0.1 1.7 1.5 5.4
DiDi Richards‡ 19 7 10.4 .408 .000 .429 1.5 0.7 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.8 2.4
Jakia Brown-Turner≠ ‡ 2 0 4.0 .000 — 1.000 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
Sug Sutton≠ 7 0 7.3 .286 .000 — 0.6 1.4 0.3 0.0 0.7 0.1 0.6


‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season

Awards and honors

Recipient Award Date awarded Ref.

References

  1. ^ "2024 Schedule - Washington Mystics". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "WNBA Transaction". acrossthetimeline.com. Across the Timeline. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Mystics Sign Free Agent Karlie Samuelson". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  4. ^ "Mystics Sign Elissa Cunane to Training Camp Contract". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  5. ^ "Mystics Sign Emily Engstler to Training Camp Contract". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  6. ^ "Mystics Sign DiDi Richards to Training Camp Contract". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  7. ^ "Mystics Sign Julie Vanloo to Training Camp Contract". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  8. ^ Philippou, Alexa (2024-02-14). "Sources: Stefanie Dolson returning to Mystics on 2-year deal". ESPN. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  9. ^ "Washington Mystics Sign WNBA Champion Stefanie Dolson". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  10. ^ @WashMystics (April 25, 2024). "🚨 We have exercised the fourth-year rookie option on Shakira Austin's contract. 🚨" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ "Connecticut Sun Acquires Queen Egbo". WNBA. May 7, 2024.
  12. ^ Lee, Albert (May 9, 2024). "Mystics waive Honesty Scott-Grayson". Bullets Forever. Vox Media, LLC.
  13. ^ @WashMystics (June 28, 2024). "We have signed Jakia Brown-Turner to a hardship contract" (Tweet). Retrieved June 28, 2024 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ @RotoWireWNBA (July 2, 2024). "akia Brown-Turner: Waived by Mystics More Details 👉 https://www.rotowire.com/wnba/player/jakia-brown-turner-934" (Tweet). Retrieved July 3, 2024 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ @kareemcopeland (July 4, 2024). "Mystics roster update: Jakia Brown-Turner is officially back on a 7-day contract" (Tweet). Retrieved July 5, 2024 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ @WashMystics (August 13, 2024). "We have released Jakia Brown-Turner. Thank you, Jakia!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 13, 2024 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Lynx acquire forward Myisha Hines-Allen from Mystics". espn.com. Field Level Media. August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  18. ^ @WashMystics (August 20, 2024). "Roster Update: We have acquired a 2026 second round draft pick, Sika Koné, and Olivia Époupa from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Myisha Hines-Allen. In a related move, Époupa and DiDi Richards have been waived" (Tweet). Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ @WashMystics (August 20, 2024). "Trade Alert: We have acquired Sug Sutton and a 2025 third round draft pick from the Phoenix Mercury for the rights to Klara Lundquist" (Tweet). Retrieved August 20, 2024 – via Twitter.