# 2018 Washington Mystics season

The 2018 WNBA season is the 21st for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association which began on May 20, 2018. The Mystics qualified for the WNBA Playoffs and reached the WNBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
The Mystics started the season strong with a 5–1 record in May. Their only loss came to eventual league champions Seattle. However, the team couldn't carry this momentum into June, where they went 5–5. The Mystics lost 4 of their first 5 games in June, but turned it around in the second half of the month, winning 4 of their last 5. The up and down season continued into July, where they again went 5–5. The Mystics finished the season just like they started it, strongly. With a 7–1 August record, the team secured a first round playoff bye, and the third overall seed. The Mystics won seven straight games before dropping their season finale against Minnesota. Their final record of 22–12 tied a franchise best, previously set in 2010.
The Mystics hosted a second round playoff game against the Los Angeles Sparks and won 96–64. This win saw them advance to the semifinals where they met the Atlanta Dream. In the best of five series, the Mystics won the final two games to advance to the 2018 WNBA Finals against the Storm. An injury to star Elena Delle Donne in the semifinals hampered her in the finals, and the Mystics were swept 0–3.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 7 | Ariel Atkins | United States | Texas |
| 2 | 19 | Myisha Hines-Allen | United States | Louisville |
| 3 | 31 | Rebecca Greenwell | United States | Duke |

### Trades/Roster Changes

| Date | Details |
| February 1, 2018 | C Emma Meesseman to miss 2018 season due to rest. |
| February 1, 2018 | Signed F/G Monique Currie. |
| February 2, 2018 | Re-Signed F Tianna Hawkins, F Allison Hightower, and F LaToya Sanders |
| February 5, 2018 | Re-Signed F Asia Taylor |
| February 5, 2018 | Signed F Devereaux Peters |
| July 23, 2018 | Traded G Tayler Hill and 2019 WNBA draft second round pick and the rights to swap first round picks to Dallas Wings in exchange for F Aerial Powers. |

## Game log
### Preseason

2018 pre-season game log :
May: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 6
vs. Minnesota
W 90–85
Ruffin-Pratt (17)
Peters (6)
Tied (3)
Wells Fargo Arena 4,203
1–0
2
May 12
vs. Indiana
W 91–56
Tied (15)
Hawkins (6)
Currie (3)
Acierno Arena (University of Delaware) 3,323
2–0 :
2018 pre-season schedule :

### Regular season

2018 game log Total: 22–12 (Home: 12–5; Road: 10–7) :
May: 5–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 20
Indiana
W 82–75
Toliver (16)
Delle Donne (5)
Delle Donne (7)
Capital One Arena 7,400
1–0
2
May 22
Las Vegas
W 75–70
Delle Donne (23)
Delle Donne (11)
Cloud (5)
Capital One Arena 4,509
2–0
3
May 24
@ Indiana
W 93–84
Delle Donne (26)
Delle Donne (10)
Tied (4)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 4,415
3–0
4
May 27
Minnesota
W 90–78
Toliver (19)
Hines–Allen (13)
Cloud (8)
Capital One Arena 5,723
4–0
5
May 29
@ Seattle
L 77–81
Toliver (20)
Hines–Allen (11)
Ruffin-Pratt (5)
KeyArena 4,453
4–1
6
May 30
@ Phoenix
W 103–95
Toliver (30)
Hawkins (12)
Atkins (4)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,188
5–1 :
June
: 5–5 (Home: 3–4; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
7
June 1
@ Las Vegas
L 73–74
Currie (24)
Currie (8)
Toliver (4)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,575
5–2
8
June 3
Connecticut
L 64–88
Atkins (14)
Tied (4)
Tied (3)
Capital One Arena 5,176
5–3
9
June 7
Minnesota
L 80–88
Cloud (17)
Cloud (5)
Cloud (9)
Capital One Arena 8,587
5–4
10
June 13
@ Connecticut
W 95–91
Delle Donne (36)
Delle Donne (5)
Toliver (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena
6–4
11
June 15
Los Angeles
L 86–97
Delle Donne (18)
Sanders (11)
Toliver (8)
Capital One Arena 5,289
6–5
12
June 19
Chicago
W 88–60
Toliver (19)
Delle Donne (7)
Toliver (8)
Capital One Arena 4,206
7–5
13
June 22
@ Chicago
W 93–77
Delle Donne (30)
Sanders (11)
Delle Donne (6)
Wintrust Arena 5,831
8–5
14
June 26
Connecticut
W 92–80
Delle Donne (25)
Sanders (8)
Toliver (8)
Capital One Arena 4,139
9–5
15
June 28
New York
W 80–77
Delle Donne (22)
Sanders (6)
Tied (3)
Capital One Arena 4,473
10–5
16
June 30
Phoenix
L 74–84
Delle Donne (27)
Delle Donne (13)
Cloud (4)
Capital One Arena 6,218
10–6 :
July
: 5–5 (Home: 2–1; Road: 3–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17
July 5
New York
W 86–67
Delle Donne (21)
Cloud (6)
Cloud (10)
Capital One Arena 4,674
11–6
18
July 7
@ Los Angeles
W 83–74
Toliver (20)
Sanders (8)
Tied (3)
Staples Center 10,163
12–6
19
July 8
@ Seattle
L 91–97
Delle Donne (29)
Delle Donne (7)
Toliver (6)
KeyArena 8,724
12–7
20
July 11
Atlanta
L 89–106
Cloud (17)
Delle Donne (9)
Toliver (5)
Capital One Arena 11,354
12–8
21
July 13
Chicago
W 88–72
Tied (25)
Sanders (8)
Cloud (7)
Capital One Arena 5,858
13–8
22
July 15
@ Atlanta
L 77–80
Delle Donne (23)
Delle Donne (11)
Toliver (6)
McCamish Pavilion 3,880
13–9
23
July 19
@ Dallas
L 81–90
Sanders (25)
Delle Donne (13)
Toliver (9)
College Park Center 4,411
13–10
24
July 21
@ New York
W 95–78
Delle Donne (30)
Delle Donne (10)
Toliver (8)
Westchester County Center 2,005
14–10
25
July 24
@ Connecticut
L 68–94
Delle Donne (21)
Sanders (6)
Tied (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 5,125
14–11
26
July 31
@ Atlanta
W 86–71
Delle Donne (28)
Delle Donne (16)
Toliver (4)
McCamish Pavilion 3,648
15–11 :
August
: 7–1 (Home: 4–0; Road: 3–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
27
August 3
Las Vegas
W via forfeit
Capital One Arena 0
16–11
28
August 5
@ Dallas
W 76–74
Toliver (16)
Powers (6)
Toliver (5)
College Park Center 5,623
17–11
29
August 7
@ Phoenix
W 103–98
Delle Donne (30)
Sanders (5)
Cloud (6)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 7,769
18–11
30
August 9
Seattle
W 100–77
Delle Donne (30)
Sanders (12)
Cloud (8)
Capital One Arena 6,808
19–11
31
August 12
Dallas
W 93–80
Atkins (26)
Sanders (9)
Toliver (7)
Capital One Arena 6,362
20–11
32
August 15
@ Indiana
W 76–62
Delle Donne (25)
Sanders (13)
Cloud (7)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,636
21–11
33
August 17
Los Angeles
W 69–67
Delle Donne (16)
Tied (10)
Tied (5)
Capital One Arena 7,400
22–11
34
August 19
@ Minnesota
L 83–88
Toliver (17)
Tied (5)
Toliver (4)
Target Center 13,013
22–12 :
2018 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2018 playoff game log Total: 4–5 (Home: 2–2; Road: 2–3) :
Second Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 23
Los Angeles
W 96–64
Donne (19)
Donne (12)
Toliver (9)
Charles Smith Center 3,548
1–0 :
Semifinals: 3–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 26
@ Atlanta
W 87–84
Delle Donne (32)
Delle Donne (13)
Toliver (6)
McCamish Pavilion 5,086
1–0
2
August 28
@ Atlanta
L 75–78
Delle Donne (27)
Delle Donne (14)
Tied (6)
McCamish Pavilion 3,813
1–1
3
August 31
Atlanta
L 76–81
Powers (18)
Hawkins (9)
Toliver (6)
Charles Smith Center 3,867
1–2
4
September 2
Atlanta
W 97–76
4 Tied (12)
Delle Donne (10)
Toliver (7)
Charles Smith Center 3,722
2–2
5
September 4
@ Atlanta
W 86–81
Atkins (20)
Delle Donne (11)
Cloud (5)
McCamish Pavilion 4,435
3–2 :
WNBA Finals: 0–3 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 7
@ Seattle
L 76–89
Atkins (23)
Delle Donne, Hawkins (7)
Cloud (5)
KeyArena 11,486
0–1
2
September 9
@ Seattle
L 73–75
Delle Donne (17)
Sanders (5)
Toliver (3)
KeyArena 14,212
0–2
3
September 12
Seattle
L 82–98
Delle Donne (23)
Delle Donne (5)
Toliver (5)
EagleBank Arena 9,164
0–3 :
2018 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| # | Eastern Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 | Atlanta Dream (2) | 23 | 11 | .676 | – | 13–4 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 2 | Washington Mystics (3) | 22 | 12 | .647 | 1 | 12–5 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 3 | Connecticut Sun (4) | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 9–7 |
| 4 | e – Chicago Sky | 13 | 21 | .382 | 10 | 7–10 | 6–11 | 6–10 |
| 5 | e – New York Liberty | 7 | 27 | .206 | 16 | 4–13 | 3–14 | 6–10 |
| 6 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 28 | .176 | 17 | 2–15 | 4–13 | 3–13 |

## Playoffs

| First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) |
| | | | | | | 1 | Seattle Storm | 91 | 91 | 66 | 84 | 94 | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Connecticut Sun | 86 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 87 | 87 | 86 | 86 | 84 | | | | | |
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 101 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 96 | | | | | | | | 1 | Seattle Storm | 89 | 75 | 98 |
| 8 | Dallas Wings | 83 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Washington Mystics | 76 | 73 | 82 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Atlanta Dream | 84 | 78 | 81 | 76 | 81 | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Washington Mystics | 96 | 3 | Washington Mystics | 87 | 75 | 76 | 97 | 86 | | | | | |
| 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 75 | 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 64 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Minnesota Lynx | 68 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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 | 29 | 29 | 32.2 | .488 | .405 | .887 | 7.2 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 20.7 |
| Kristi Toliver | 33 | 33 | 32.9 | .433 | .360 | .918 | 2.3 | 4.4 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 13.9 |
| Ariel Atkins | 29 | 24 | 22.5 | .432 | .357 | .824 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 11.3 |
| LaToya Sanders | 28 | 25 | 24.5 | .607 | .000 | .869 | 6.4 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 10.2 |
| Natasha Cloud | 27 | 22 | 26.5 | .436 | .386 | .778 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 8.6 |
| Monique Currie | 32 | 9 | 15.9 | .395 | .293 | .831 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 6.6 |
| Tianna Hawkins | 32 | 4 | 16.6 | .443 | .357 | .824 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 6.3 |
| Aerial Powers | 9 | 0 | 12.7 | .450 | .438 | 1.00 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 6.1 |
| Tierra Ruffin-Pratt | 33 | 10 | 18.1 | .341 | .314 | .855 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 5.5 |
| Myisha Hines-Allen | 24 | 1 | 10.5 | .450 | .333 | .654 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.8 |
| Shatori Walker-Kimbrough | 19 | 1 | 8.8 | .429 | .304 | 1.00 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 3.5 |
| Krystal Thomas | 24 | 7 | 9.9 | .429 | .000 | .636 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.8 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Elena Delle Donne | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 18, 2018 |
| Elena Delle Donne | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 2, 2018 |
| Elena Delle Donne | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month - June | July 3, 2018 |
| Elena Delle Donne | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 9, 2018 |
| Elena Delle Donne | WNBA All-Star Captain | July 17, 2018 |
| Kristi Toliver | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 |
| Elena Delle Donne | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | August 13, 2018 |
| Elena Delle Donne | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month - August | August 20, 2018 |
| Ariel Atkins | All-Defensive Second Team | August 30, 2018 |
| Ariel Atkins | All-Rookie Team | September 9, 2018 |
| Elena Delle Donne | All-WNBA First Team | September 12, 2018 |