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.

2017 Washington Mystics season
CoachMike Thibault
ArenaVerizon Center
Attendance7,771 per game
Results
Record18–16 (.529)
Place3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finishSemifinals v. Minnesota
Team Leaders
PointsElena Delle Donne 19.7 ppg
ReboundsKrystal Thomas 9.6 rpg
AssistsKristi Toliver 3.4 apg
Media
TelevisionCSN Mid-Atlantic (CSN-MA)

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

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WNBA draft

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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

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Roster

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2017 Washington Mystics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
G 15   Cloud, Natasha 6' 0" (1.83m) 160 lb (73kg) 02-22-1992 Saint Joseph's 3
G/F 11   Delle Donne, Elena   6' 5" (1.96m) 188 lb (85kg) 09-05-1989 Delaware 5
G 4   Hill, Tayler 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 10-23-1990 Ohio State 5
G 20   Toliver, Kristi 5' 7" (1.7m) 130 lb (59kg) 01-27-1987 Maryland 9
G 12   Latta, Ivory 5' 6" (1.68m) 138 lb (63kg) 09-25-1984 North Carolina 12
C 33   Meesseman, Emma 6' 4" (1.93m) 182 lb (83kg) 05-13-1993 Belgium 5
G 14   Ruffin-Pratt, Tierra 5' 10" (1.78m) 183 lb (83kg) 04-11-1991 North Carolina 5
G 23   Hightower, Allison 5' 10" (1.78m) 170 lb (77kg) 04-06-1988 LSU 5
F 31   Taylor, Asia 6' 1" (1.85m) 167 lb (76kg) 08-22-1991 Louisville 3
C 34   Thomas, Krystal 6' 5" (1.96m) 195 lb (88kg) 06-10-1989 Duke 6
F 21   Hawkins, Tianna 6' 3" (1.91m) 191 lb (87kg) 03-02-1991 Maryland 4
G 32   Walker-Kimbrough, Shatori 5' 11" (1.8m) 140 lb (64kg) 05-18-1995 Maryland R
Head coach
  Mike Thibault (St. Martin's)
Assistant coaches
  Marianne Stanley (Immaculata)
  Eric Thibault (Missouri)
Athletic trainer
  Emily Fortunato (George Washington)
Strength and conditioning coach
  Michael Bugielski (Illinois State)

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

Game log

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Preseason

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2017 pre-season game log
May: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
1 May 2 Indiana W 87-67 Taylor (13) Hawkins (7) Tied (3) Indiana Farmers Coliseum
4,336
1-0
2 May 8 Minnesota L 59-75 Hawkins (14) Hawkins (7) Latta (4) Verizon Center
1,426
1-1
2017 pre-season schedule

Regular season

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2017 game log
Total: 18–16 (Home: 11–6; Road: 7–10)
May: 4–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
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)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
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)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
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)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
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)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
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

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2017 playoff game log
Total: 2–3(Home: 1–1; Road: 1–2)
First Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
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)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
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)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
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

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# Eastern Conference 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

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First round:
Single elimination
(Sept. 6)
Second round:
Single elimination
(Sept. 10)
Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(Sept. 12 – Sept. 17)
WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(Sept. 24 – Oct. 4)
2Los Angeles Sparks798689
4Connecticut Sun835Phoenix Mercury667287
5Phoenix Mercury795Phoenix Mercury881Minnesota Lynx8470648085
8Seattle Storm692Los Angeles Sparks8568756976
1Minnesota Lynx1019381
3New York Liberty686Washington Mystics818370
6Washington Mystics866Washington Mystics82
7Dallas Wings76

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Statistics

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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

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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

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Recipient Award Date awarded Ref.
Ivory Latta Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award August 25, 2017 [3]

References

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  1. ^ "Mystics Acquire Elena Delle Donne". Mystics Today. February 2, 2017. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Transactions".
  3. ^ "Washington Mystics' Ivory Latta Earns Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award". wnba.com. wnba.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
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