# 2022 Washington Mystics season

The 2022 Washington Mystics season is the franchise's 25th season in the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season will tip off versus the Indiana Fever on May 6, 2022.
The Mystics won the Draft Lottery and received the 1st Overall pick in the 2022 WNBA draft, despite only having the third best odds to win. This is the first time in franchise history that the Mystics had the #1 Overall pick. The team traded the pick to Atlanta and moved down to the third overall pick in the Draft.
The Mystics started the season on a three-game winning streak, before losing their first game. The continued on to win four of their next six games and finished the month of May 7–3. Their fortunes turned a little in June, with the team not being able to put together a streak of wins and they finished the month 6–6. The team improved in July, finishing 6–3 and winning five of six in the middle of the month. The Mystics finished August 3–2, losing two games in the middle but winning the final two games. Their overall record of 22–14 left them tied for fourth place with Seattle.
Seattle won the tiebreaker for the playoffs, by finishing the regular season 2–1 against the Mystics. The two teams would meet in the first round of the 2022 WNBA Playoffs, with Seattle being the fourth seed and Washington being the fifth seed. The first two games of the series were in Seattle and those were the only two games that were needed out of the possible three-game series. The Mystics lost the first game by three points and the second by thirteen to drop the series 0–2 and end their season.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
| 1 | 3 | Shakira Austin | United States | Ole Miss |
| 2 | 14 | Christyn Williams | United States | UConn |

### Trades and Roster Changes

| Date | Transaction |
| January 5, 2022 | Extended Qualifying Offers to Myisha Hines-Allen and Megan Gustafson |
| January 6, 2022 | Signed Megan Gustafson to a Qualifying Offer |
| January 27, 2022 | Hired Shelley Patterson as an assistant coach |
| February 1, 2022 | Re-Signed Myisha Hines-Allen to a Multi-Year Deal |
| February 1, 2022 | Signed Elizabeth Williams to a One-Year Deal |
| February 1, 2022 | Signed Klara Lundquist, Lee-Seul Kang, Tianna Hawkins, and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough to training-camp contracts |
| February 14, 2022 | Signed Rui Machida to a training-camp contract |
| February 17, 2022 | Signed MeMe Jackson to a training-camp contract |
| February 18, 2022 | Suspended Klara Lundquist's contract for the Full Season - Personal Decision |
| February 22, 2022 | Signed Linnae Harper to a training-camp contract |
| February 24, 2022 | Signed Stephanie Mavunga to a training-camp contract |
| February 28, 2022 | Waived Sydney Wiese |
| April 6, 2022 | Traded the #1 Pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the #3 and #14 picks in the 2022 WNBA Draft, and the right to exchange 1st Round Picks in 2023 with the Los Angeles Sparks that the Dream received in an earlier trade |
| April 14, 2022 | Signed Shakira Austin to a rookie-scale contract |
| April 14, 2022 | Signed Jennifer Coleman to a training-camp contract |
| April 15, 2022 | Signed Christyn Williams to rookie-scale contract |
| April 18, 2022 | Waived Jennifer Coleman |
| April 20, 2022 | Signed Katie Benzan to a training-camp contract |
| April 22, 2022 | Waived Christyn Williams |
| April 25, 2022 | Waived MeMe Jackson |
| April 28, 2022 | Waived Erica McCall, Megan Gustafson, and Lee-Seul Kang |
| May 3, 2022 | Waived Stephanie Mavunga and Linnae Harper |
| May 5, 2022 | Temporarily Suspend Elizabeth Williams due to Overseas Commitments |
| May 6, 2022 | Waived Katie Benzan |
| May 6, 2022 | Claimed Kennedy Burke off of waivers and then temporarily suspended her due to Overseas commitments |
| May 6, 2022 | Signed Stephanie Jones to a Hardship Contract |
| May 8, 2022 | Signed Katie Benzan to a Hardship Contract |
| May 13, 2022 | Released Stephanie Jones from her Hardship Contract |
| May 16, 2022 | Released Katie Benzan from her Hardship Contract |
| May 16, 2022 | Activated Kennedy Burke from her Temporary Suspension |
| May 19, 2022 | Activated Elizabeth Williams from her Temporary Suspension |
| June 24, 2022 | Waived Kennedy Burke |
| June 27, 2022 | Signed Evina Westbrook to a 7-day contract |
| July 4, 2022 | Signed Evina Westbrook to a 2nd 7-day contract |
| July 11, 2022 | Signed Evina Westbrook to a 3rd 7-day contract |
| July 18, 2022 | Signed Evina Westbrook |
| August 10, 2022 | Signed Jazmine Jones |

## Roster
### Depth

| Pos. | Starter | Bench |
| C | Shakira Austin | Elizabeth Williams |
| PF | Elena Delle Donne | Myisha Hines-Allen Tianna Hawkins |
| SF | Alysha Clark | Jazmine Jones |
| SG | Ariel Atkins | Shatori Walker-Kimbrough Evina Westbrook |
| PG | Natasha Cloud | Rui Machida |

## Schedule
### Preseason

2022 pre-season game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) :
April: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
April 24
@ Atlanta
L 69–88
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (13)
Shakira Austin (12)
Myisha Hines-Allen (7)
Gateway Center Arena 854
0–1
2
April 27
Minnesota
W 78–66
Elena Delle Donne (21)
Shakira Austin (13)
Natasha Cloud (4)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,220
1–1
3
April 30
@ New York
Canceled
Barclays Center
1–1 :
2022 pre-season schedule :

### Regular Season

2022 game log Total: 22–14 (Home: 12–6; Road: 10–8) :
May: 7–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 4–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 6
Indiana
W 84–70
Elena Delle Donne (21)
Elena Delle Donne (9)
Natasha Cloud (6)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
1–0
2
May 8
@ Minnesota
W 78–66
Ariel Atkins (20)
Shakira Austin (10)
Natasha Cloud (6)
Target Center 8,134
2–0
3
May 10
Las Vegas
W 89–76
Elena Delle Donne (19)
Atkins Hines-Allen (8)
Myisha Hines-Allen (8)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,082
3–0
4
May 13
Dallas
L 86–94
Elena Delle Donne (20)
Myisha Hines-Allen (7)
Rui Machida (7)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,281
3–1
5
May 17
@ Dallas
W 84–68
Shakira Austin (20)
Shakira Austin (8)
Natasha Cloud (7)
College Park Center 3,035
4–1
6
May 20
@ Atlanta
W 78–73
Ariel Atkins (18)
Shakira Austin (7)
Natasha Cloud (5)
Gateway Center Arena N/A
5–1
7
May 22
Chicago
L 73–82
Ariel Atkins (20)
Elena Delle Donne (7)
Natasha Cloud (10)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
5–2
8
May 24
Atlanta
W 70–50
Elena Delle Donne (15)
Shakira Austin (7)
Natasha Cloud (7)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 2,687
6–2
9
May 28
@ Connecticut
L 71–79
Burke Atkins (13)
Shakira Austin (5)
Natasha Cloud (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 5,482
6–3
10
May 31
@ Indiana
W 87–75
Ariel Atkins (28)
Elizabeth Williams (15)
Natasha Cloud (9)
Indiana Farmers Coliseum 1,009
7–3 :
June
: 6–6 (Home: 4–2; Road: 2–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
11
June 3
New York
L 70–74
Natasha Cloud (17)
Elena Delle Donne (8)
Natasha Cloud (8)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,857
7–4
12
June 5
@ Chicago
L 82–91
Tianna Hawkins (21)
Shakira Austin (7)
Rui Machida (9)
Wintrust Arena 6,228
7–5
13
June 8
Chicago
W 84–82
Ariel Atkins (19)
Ariel Atkins (7)
Atkins Cloud (5)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 2,984
8–5
14
June 10
@ Minnesota
W 76–59
Myisha Hines-Allen (17)
Shakira Austin (13)
Natasha Cloud (8)
Target Center 6,315
9–5
15
June 12
Phoenix
L 90–99 (OT)
Myisha Hines-Allen (18)
Myisha Hines-Allen (10)
Natasha Cloud (7)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
9–6
16
June 14
Phoenix
W 83–65
Shakira Austin (16)
Shakira Austin (10)
Natasha Cloud (10)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,088
10–6
17
June 16
@ New York
L 65–77
Natasha Cloud (17)
Shakira Austin (6)
Natasha Cloud (7)
Barclays Center 4,168
10–7
18
June 19
Connecticut
W 71–63
Elena Delle Donne (15)
Shakira Austin (8)
Ariel Atkins (6)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,959
11–7
19
June 21
@ Los Angeles
L 82–84
Ariel Atkins (22)
Myisha Hines-Allen (8)
Natasha Cloud (13)
Crypto.com Arena 3,745
11–8
20
June 23
@ Seattle
L 71–85
Elena Delle Donne (20)
Shakira Austin (9)
Natasha Cloud (8)
Climate Pledge Arena 9,884
11–9
21
June 25
@ Las Vegas
W 87–86 (OT)
Alysha Clark (20)
Elena Delle Donne (10)
Natasha Cloud (10)
Michelob Ultra Arena 7,171
12–9
22
June 28
Atlanta
W 92–74
Natasha Cloud (18)
Austin Hines-Allen (7)
Rui Machida (5)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,517
13–9 :
July
: 6–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 3–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
23
July 3
@ Connecticut
L 72–74 (OT)
Ariel Atkins (18)
Myisha Hines-Allen (13)
Natasha Cloud (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 5,814
13–10
24
July 6
@ Atlanta
W 85–66
Elena Delle Donne (26)
Elena Delle Donne (8)
Natasha Cloud (4)
Gateway Center Arena 1,810
14–10
25
July 12
@ Los Angeles
W 94–81
Elena Delle Donne (26)
Shakira Austin (8)
Natasha Cloud (9)
Crypto.com Arena 5,004
15–10
26
July 14
@ Phoenix
L 75–80
Elena Delle Donne (19)
Elena Delle Donne (12)
Natasha Cloud (7)
Footprint Center 5,994
15–11
27
July 17
Minnesota
W 70–57
Elena Delle Donne (21)
Elena Delle Donne (10)
Natasha Cloud (8)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
16–11
28
July 21
New York
W 78–69
Elena Delle Donne (25)
Myisha Hines-Allen (8)
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (5)
Capital One Arena 7,431
17–11
29
July 28
@ Dallas
W 87–77
Atkins Cloud Hines-Allen (14)
Shakira Austin (5)
Natasha Cloud (7)
College Park Center 4,382
18–11
30
July 30
Seattle
L 77–82
Elena Delle Donne (22)
Austin Hines-Allen (10)
Natasha Cloud (11)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
18–12
31
July 31
Seattle
W 78–75
Ariel Atkins (23)
Shakira Austin (9)
Natasha Cloud (10)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
19–12 :
August
: 3–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
32
August 2
Las Vegas
W 83–73
Natasha Cloud (16)
Elena Delle Donne (11)
Natasha Cloud (9)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
20–12
33
August 5
@ Chicago
L 83–93
Myisha Hines-Allen (21)
Hines-Allen E. Williams (6)
Rui Machida (5)
Wintrust Arena 8,042
20–13
34
August 7
Los Angeles
L 76–79
Atkins Hines-Allen (20)
Shakira Austin (10)
Natasha Cloud (9)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
20–14
35
August 12
@ Indiana
W 82–70
Elena Delle Donne (24)
Shakira Austin (11)
Natasha Cloud (6)
Hinkle Fieldhouse 1,700
21–14
36
August 14
Indiana
W 95–83
Elena Delle Donne (22)
Shakira Austin (6)
Rui Machida (6)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
22–14 :
2022 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2022 playoff game log :
First Round vs. Seattle Storm Lost Series: 0–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 18
@ Seattle
L 83–86
Elena Delle Donne (26)
Shakira Austin (7)
Elena Delle Donne (5)
Climate Pledge Arena 8,917
0–1
2
August 21
@ Seattle
L 84–97
Natasha Cloud (21)
Shakira Austin (8)
Ariel Atkins (7)
Climate Pledge Arena 12,490
0–2 :
2022 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| # | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
| 1 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 26 | 10 | .722 | – | 15–3 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 9–1 |
| 2 | x – Chicago Sky | 26 | 10 | .722 | – | 15–3 | 14–4 | 12–6 | 9–1 |
| 3 | x – Connecticut Sun | 25 | 11 | .694 | 1.0 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 5–5 |
| 4 | x – Seattle Storm | 22 | 14 | .611 | 4.0 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–4 |
| 5 | x – Washington Mystics | 22 | 14 | .611 | 4.0 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 5–5 |
| 6 | x – Dallas Wings | 18 | 18 | .500 | 8.0 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–5 |
| 7 | x – New York Liberty | 16 | 20 | .444 | 10.0 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–4 |
| 8 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 15 | 21 | .417 | 11.0 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 3–7 |
| 9 | e – Minnesota Lynx | 14 | 22 | .389 | 12.0 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 4–6 |
| 10 | e – Atlanta Dream | 14 | 22 | .389 | 12.0 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 3–7 |
| 11 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 13 | 23 | .361 | 13.0 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 3–7 |
| 12 | e – Indiana Fever | 5 | 31 | .139 | 21.0 | 2–16 | 3–15 | 2–16 | 2–8 |
Notes
    (#) – League Standing
    x – Clinched playoff berth
    e – Eliminated from playoff contention
    Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings

## Playoffs

| Round One: Best-of-3 | Round One: Best-of-3 | Round One: Best-of-3 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 |
| 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 2 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 0 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 0 | 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Seattle Storm | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Seattle Storm | 2 | 4 | Seattle Storm | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Washington Mystics | 0 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Washington Mystics | 0 | | | | 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 |
| | | | | | | 3 | Connecticut Sun | 1 |
| 2 | Chicago Sky | 2 | | | | | | | 3 | Connecticut Sun | 1 |
| 7 | New York Liberty | 1 | | | | | | |
| 7 | New York Liberty | 1 | 2 | Chicago Sky | 2 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Connecticut Sun | 3 | | | |
| 3 | Connecticut Sun | 2 | 3 | Connecticut Sun | 3 | | | |
| 6 | Dallas Wings | 1 | | | | | | |
Bold Series winner

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Elena Delle Donne | 25 | 25 | 27.8 | .480 | .368 | .913 | 6.3 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 17.2 |
| Ariel Atkins | 36 | 36 | 30.0 | .420 | .365 | .845 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 14.6 |
| Natasha Cloud | 34 | 34 | 31.3 | .399 | .319 | .824 | 3.6 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 10.7 |
| Myisha Hines-Allen | 34 | 15 | 19.3 | .415 | .367 | .703 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 8.9 |
| Shakira Austin | 36 | 32 | 21.6 | .547 | .000 | .624 | 6.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 8.7 |
| Alysha Clark | 29 | 29 | 26.4 | .464 | .303 | .913 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 8.0 |
| Shatori Walker-Kimbrough | 35 | 3 | 20.1 | .402 | .347 | .902 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 6.9 |
| Katie Benzan$^‡$ | 3 | 0 | 9.0 | .556 | .714 | .750 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 6.0 |
| Elizabeth Williams | 30 | 0 | 14.9 | .482 | .000 | .581 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 5.4 |
| Kennedy Burke$^‡$ | 16 | 4 | 13.9 | .446 | .344 | .588 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 5.4 |
| Tianna Hawkins | 25 | 0 | 12.8 | .386 | .264 | .952 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 4.9 |
| Evina Westbrook$^≠$ | 6 | 0 | 5.3 | .667 | .500 | .833 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 3.3 |
| Stephanie Jones$^‡$ | 3 | 0 | 6.3 | .429 | .500 | .000 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| Rui Machida | 36 | 2 | 12.9 | .310 | .206 | .667 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.8 |
| Jazmine Jones$^≠$ | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season

### Playoffs

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Elena Delle Donne | 2 | 2 | 33.0 | .516 | .111 | 1.000 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 19.0 |
| Natasha Cloud | 2 | 2 | 35.5 | .500 | .700 | 1.000 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 18.5 |
| Ariel Atkins | 2 | 2 | 33.0 | .379 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.5 | 5.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 15.5 |
| Shatori Walker-Kimbrough | 2 | 0 | 20.5 | .556 | .500 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 7.5 |
| Shakira Austin | 2 | 2 | 27.0 | .462 | .000 | .500 | 7.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 7.0 |
| Alysha Clark | 2 | 2 | 25.5 | .571 | .500 | .667 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 6.0 |
| Myisha Hines-Allen | 2 | 0 | 14.5 | .182 | .000 | 1.000 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 |
| Rui Machida | 2 | 0 | 5.5 | .667 | .000 | .250 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| Elizabeth Williams | 2 | 0 | 5.5 | 1.000 | .000 | .250 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Ariel Atkins | WNBA All-Star Selection | June 28 |
| Ariel Atkins | All-Defensive First Team | August 30 |
| Elena Delle Donne | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 18 |
| Natasha Cloud | Peak Performer:Assists | August 15 |
| Natasha Cloud | All-Defensive First Team | August 30 |
| Shakira Austin | WNBA All-Rookie Team | August 25 |