# 2017 Washington Mystics season

The 2017 WNBA season for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association is scheduled to begin May 13, 2017. The Mystics got off to a strong start, posting a 10–5 record in May and June. After a 4–4 July, the Mystics struggled to finish out the season. A 4–6 finish saw them place third in the Eastern Conference, and earn the 6th overall seed in the playoffs. Strong performances from star players allowed the Mystics to win in the First Round over the Dallas Wings and in the Second Round over the New York Liberty. In the Semifinals, the Mystics were swept by the Minnesota Lynx 0–3.
The Mystics became the first Washington-based professional sports team to reach the semifinal stage of playoffs since they themselves did so in 2002. They and the NHL's Washington Capitals reaching the Finals in 1998 were the only instances of a Washington-based team reaching the semifinals since the Redskins' 1991 Super Bowl.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 6 | Shatori Walker-Kimbrough | United States | Maryland |
| 2 | 18 | Jennie Simms | United States | Old Dominion |
| 3 | 27 | Mehryn Kraker | United States | Green Bay |

### Trades

* Elena Delle Donne is acquired from the Chicago Sky in exchange for Stefanie Dolson, Kahleah Copper and Washington’s first-round pick (second overall) in the 2017 WNBA draft.
* Bria Hartley and Kia Vaughn were traded to the New York Liberty.
* The 2nd round draft pick (15th overall) was traded to the Seattle Storm.

## Game log
### Preseason

2017 pre-season game log :
May: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1May 2IndianaW 87-67Taylor (13)Hawkins (7)Tied (3)Indiana Farmers Coliseum 4,3361-0
2May 8MinnesotaL 59-75Hawkins (14)Hawkins (7)Latta (4)Verizon Center 1,4261-1 :
2017 pre-season schedule :

### Regular season

2017 game log Total: 18–16 (Home: 11–6; Road: 7–10) :
May: 4–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 14
San Antonio
W 89-74
Dell Donne (24)
Ruffin-Pratt (9)
Meesseman (8)
Verizon Center 6,126
1-0
2
May 19
Los Angeles
L 89-99
Dell Donne (27)
Tied (4)
Cloud (8)
Staples Center 12,127
1-1
3
May 21
Seattle
L 71-81
Dell Donne (14)
Ruffin-Pratt (8)
Toliver (3)
KeyArena 6,088
1-2
4
May 24
Chicago
W 82-67
Dell Donne (21)
Ruffin-Pratt (10)
Toliver (5)
Allstate Arena 6,714
2-2
5
May 26
Chicago
W 88-79
Dell Donne (20)
Thomas (10)
Tied (5)
Verizon Center 6,438
3-2
6
May 31
Connecticut
W 78-76
Hill (18)
Dell Donne (12)
Hill (8)
Verizon Center 5,393
4-2 :
June
: 6–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 3–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
7
June 4
Atlanta
W 78-72
Dell Donne (23)
Dell Donne (15)
Tied (4)
Verizon Center 5,320
5-2
8
June 6
Dallas
W 101-89
Dell Donne (23)
Tied (8)
Cloud (6)
College Park Center 2,805
6-2
9
June 9
Minnesota
L 73-98
Hill (20)
Taylor (7)
Tied (2)
Verizon Center 6,518
6-3
10
June 11
Indiana
W 88-70
Dell Donne (25)
Thomas (14)
Toliver (4)
Verizon Center 6,194
7-3
11
June 18
Dallas
L 83-87
Hill (21)
Hawkins (7)
Tied (4)
Verizon Center 7,285
7-4
12
June 23
Minnesota
L 76-93
Hill (21)
Dell Donne (8)
Tied (1)
Xcel Energy Center 9,723
7-5
13
June 25
Chicago
W 97-63
Hill (17)
Thomas (12)
Cloud (6)
Allstate Arena 5,344
8-5
14
June 27
Seattle
W 100-70
Dell Donne (25)
Tied (12)
Tied (4)
Verizon Center 7,337
9-5
15
June 29
New York
W 67-54
Tied (15)
Dell Donne (9)
Hill (3)
Verizon Center 5,490
10-5 :
July
: 4–4 (Home: 1–0; Road: 3–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
16
July 2
Los Angeles
L 69-76
Dell Donne (22)
Thomas (7)
Hill (3)
Staples Center 9,185
10-6
17
July 5
Phoenix
L 80-88
Dell Donne (15)
Thomas (10)
Tied (3)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 7,440
10-7
18
July 8
Connecticut
L 92-96
Dell Donne (28)
Tied (6)
Toliver (7)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,073
10-8
19
July 14
Indiana
W 72-58
Meesseman (15)
Ruffin-Pratt (11)
Meesseman (3)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 8,007
11-8
20
July 16
New York
L 55-85
Meesseman (19)
Thomas (10)
Tied (2)
Madison Square Garden 10,204
11-9
21
July 19
Atlanta
W 100-96
Toliver (29)
Thomas (17)
Cloud (8)
Verizon Center 15,597
12-9
22
July 25
San Antonio
W 85-76
Dell Donne (29)
Thomas (13)
Toliver (10)
AT&T Center 9,244
13-9
23
July 30
Atlanta
W 77-70
Meesseman (30)
Thomas (15)
Tied (3)
McCamish Pavilion 4,185
14-9 :
August
: 3–5 (Home: 2–3; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
24
August 4
San Antonio
L 74-76
Toliver (18)
Thomas (20)
Tied (6)
AT&T Center 4,955
14-10
25
August 6
Phoenix
W 85-80
Toliver (20)
Thomas (16)
Tied (3)
Verizon Center 7,414
15-10
26
August 12
Indiana
W 100-80
Thomas (20)
Thomas (14)
Meesseman (7)
Capital One Arena 7,337
16-10
27
August 16
Los Angeles
L 62-95
Meesseman (20)
Meesseman (7)
Tied (3)
Capital One Arena 7,279
16-11
28
August 18
Phoenix
L 79-89
Toliver (21)
Tied (8)
Toliver (4)
Capital One Arena 7,208
16-12
29
August 20
Indiana
W 87-82
Tied (18)
Thomas (11)
Ruffin-Pratt (4)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,593
17-12
30
August 25
New York
L 66-74
Thomas (17)
Thomas (9)
Dell Donne (4)
Madison Square Garden 9,340
17-13
31
August 26
Dallas
L 78-83
Dell Donne (29)
Dell Donne (11)
Toliver (5)
Capital One Arena 8,656
17-14
32
August 29
Connecticut
L 76-86
Dell Donne (24)
Dell Donne (16)
Toliver (6)
Capital One Arena 10,953
17-15 :
September
: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
33
September 1
Seattle
W 110-106
Dell Donne (37)
Thomas (12)
Toliver (8)
Capital One Arena 11,567
18-15
34
September 3
Minnesota
L 72-86
Toliver (20)
Thomas (14)
Toliver (3)
Xcel Energy Center 10,321
18-17 :
2017 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2017 playoff game log Total: 2–3(Home: 1–1; Road: 1–2) :
First Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 6
Dallas
W 86–76
Dell Donne (25)
Thomas (17)
Meesseman (5)
Capital One Arena 6,483
1–0 :
Second Round: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 10
New York Liberty
W 82–68
Toliver (32)
Dell Donne (10)
Tied (4)
Madison Square Garden 9,538
1–0 :
WNBA Semifinals: 0–3 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 12
Minnesota
L 81–101
Dell Donne (17)
Dell Donne (6)
Toliver (6)
Williams Arena 7,834
0–1
2
September 14
Minnesota
L 83–93
Tied (25)
Thomas (7)
Toliver (6)
Williams Arena 9,033
0–2
3
September 17
Minnesota
L 70–81
Dell Donne (15)
Dell Donne (8)
Toliver (5)
Capital One Arena 7,950
0–3 :
2017 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| # | Eastern Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 | New York Liberty - (3) | 22 | 12 | .647 | - | 13–4 | 9–8 | 10–6 |
| 2 | Connecticut Sun - (4) | 21 | 13 | .636 | 1 | 12–5 | 9–6 | 10–6 |
| 3 | Washington Mystics - (6) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 12-4 |
| 4 | Chicago Sky - e | 12 | 22 | .353 | 10 | 4–13 | 8–9 | 6–10 |
| 5 | Atlanta Dream - e | 12 | 22 | .353 | 10 | 9–8 | 3–14 | 5–11 |
| 6 | Indiana Fever - e | 9 | 25 | .265 | 13 | 6–11 | 3–14 | 4–12 |

### Playoffs

| First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) |
| | | | | | | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 79 | 86 | 89 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Connecticut Sun | 83 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 66 | 72 | 87 | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 79 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 88 | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 84 | 70 | 64 | 80 | 85 |
| 8 | Seattle Storm | 69 | | | | | | | | | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 85 | 68 | 75 | 69 | 76 |
| | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 101 | 93 | 81 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | New York Liberty | 68 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 81 | 83 | 70 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Washington Mystics | 86 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 82 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Dallas Wings | 76 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Elena Delle Donne | 25 | 25 | 30.3 | 49.4% | 38.8% | 95.3% | 6.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 19.7 |
| Emma Meesseman | 23 | 21 | 28.4 | 48.2% | 31.8% | 87.0% | 5.7 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 14.1 |
| Tayler Hill | 18 | 16 | 25.7 | 36.1% | 30.3% | 93.8% | 1.9 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 13.3 |
| Kristi Toliver | 34 | 34 | 29.1 | 40.7% | 33.8% | 86.7% | 2.0 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 11.9 |
| Ivory Latta | 34 | 1 | 17.0 | 34.9% | 32.8% | 87.1% | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| Tierra Ruffin-Pratt | 34 | 34 | 24.3 | 33.7% | 0.0% | 73.8% | 5.3 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 7.3 |
| Krystal Thomas | 34 | 30 | 26.1 | 54.4% | — | 60.3% | 9.6 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 7.0 |
| Tianna Hawkins | 33 | 1 | 16.6 | 47.1% | 26.1% | 95.3% | 4.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 6.9 |
| Allison Hightower | 11 | 0 | 13.2 | 36.2% | 20.0% | 87.5% | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 4.7 |
| Natasha Cloud | 24 | 0 | 18.7 | 31.4% | 23.5% | 74.1% | 2.5 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 4.4 |
| Shatori Walker-Kimbrough | 27 | 8 | 12.4 | 37.1% | 33.3% | 85.4% | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 4.4 |
| Asia Taylor | 24 | 0 | 6.7 | 32.5% | 0.0% | 73.1% | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.9 |
| Jennie Simms | 10 | 0 | 5.0 | 16.7% | 0.0% | 80.0% | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.2 |
| Haley Peters | 2 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
| Ivory Latta | Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award | August 25, 2017 | |