2024 Washington Mystics season

2024 Washington Mystics season
Coach	Eric Thibault
Arena	Entertainment and Sports Arena
Attendance	6,542 per game
Results
Record	14–26 (.350)
Place	5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Team Leaders
Points	Ariel Atkins – 14.9 ppg
Rebounds	Shakira Austin – 6.8 rpg
Assists	Julie Vanloo – 4.3 apg
← 2023 season 2025 season →

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

Additions Personnel Signed/Trade Former Team Stefanie Dolson Signed New York Liberty Aaliyah Edwards Draft Connecticut Huskies Emily Engstler Signed Minnesota Lynx Bernadett Határ Trade Connecticut Sun Sika Koné Trade Minnesota Lynx Jade Melbourne Trade Seattle Storm DiDi Richards Signed — Karlie Samuelson Signed Los Angeles Sparks Sug Sutton Trade Phoenix Mercury Julie Vanloo Signed —

Subtractions Personnel Reason New Team Natasha Cloud Free Agency Phoenix Mercury Elena Delle Donne Contract Suspended — Queen Egbo Trade Connecticut Sun Tianna Hawkins Free Agency — Myisha Hines-Allen Trade Minnesota Lynx Li Meng Free Agency — Kristi Toliver Retirement

Roster

2024 Washington Mystics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 7 Atkins, Ariel 5' 8" (1.73m) 167 lb (76kg) 1996-07-30 Texas 6 F/C 0 Austin, Shakira   6' 5" (1.96m) 190 lb (86kg) 2000-07-25 Mississippi 2 C 31 Dolson, Stefanie 6' 5" (1.96m) 235 lb (107kg) 1992-01-08 Connecticut 10 F 24 Edwards, Aaliyah   6' 3" (1.91m) 2002-07-09 Connecticut R F 21 Engstler, Emily 6' 1" (1.85m) 180 lb (82kg) 2000-05-01 Louisville 2 F 3 Koné, Sika 6' 4" (1.93m) 180 lb (82kg) 2002-07-13 Mali 1 G 5 Melbourne, Jade 5' 11" (1.8m) 145 lb (66kg) 2002-08-18 Australia 1 G 44 Samuelson, Karlie 6' 0" (1.83m) 160 lb (73kg) 1995-05-10 Stanford 5 G 1 Sutton, Sug 5' 8" (1.73m) 140 lb (64kg) 1998-12-17 Texas 2 G 15 Sykes, Brittney 5' 9" (1.75m) 154 lb (70kg) 1994-02-07 Syracuse 7 G 35 Vanloo, Julie 5' 8" (1.73m) 1993-02-10 Belgium R G 32 Walker-Kimbrough, Shatori 5' 9" (1.75m) 140 lb (64kg) 1995-05-18 Maryland 7 F – Claessens, Nastja  (DP) 6' 1" (1.85m) 2004-12-02 Belgium –	Head coach Eric Thibault (Missouri) Assistant coaches LaToya Sanders (North Carolina) Shelley Patterson (Washington State) Ashlee McGee (Austin Peay) Athletic trainer Chrisitna Kennedy Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended 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

• v
• t
• e

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. "WNBA Transaction". acrossthetimeline.com. Across the Timeline. Retrieved April 20, 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 (February 14, 2024). "Sources: Stefanie Dolson returning to Mystics on 2-year deal". ESPN . Retrieved February 15, 2024.
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.

External links

• Official website of the Washington Mystics