Tag: Washington Mystics

The refs arguably missed a blatant foul on a Caitlin Clark layup during Mystics-Fever

We’re not sure how the refs missed calling this Mystics foul on Caitlin Clark.

The officiating crew for Wednesday night’s Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics arguably missed a blatant foul on rookie guard Caitlin Clark as she went up for a layup.

Clark taking hard fouls has been a talking point of the WNBA season, but this block from Mystics center Stefanie Dolson clearly smacked Clark’s arm as she was going up for the basket.

Rather than rule it a foul, the referees held the whistle and let the game continue. Clark wasn’t thrilled at all and tried to argue that it should’ve been called a foul, but it ultimately didn’t impact the game as Indiana held on to win the game over Washington, 88-81.

It’s going to continue to be a focal point this season for how teams are playing Clark and if it crosses a line into foul territory, but this seems like it was an obvious call the referees just missed.

It looked like Clark was clearly impacted by the contact on her shot attempt.

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The winless Washington Mystics are down so bad that hoops fans actually feel sorry for them

The Washington Mystics just can’t get out of their own way.

The Washington Mystics are down so bad right now that fans are starting to feel sorry for them.

Unfortunately, Washington’s nightmare season hasn’t gotten any better. Injuries to two starters — Brittney Sykes and Shakira Austin — are not helping, and the team can’t seem to finish games. On Sunday, they had a chance to upset the red-hot New York Liberty, but a lackluster end to the fourth quarter and a sequence near the end of the game doomed them.

After pulling the score to within one point, Washington had Sabrina Ionescu trapped in a corner. But when they couldn’t get her to turn over the ball, they mystifyingly didn’t foul to put her at the free-throw line and potentially line up another possession. The sequence ended with a Jonquel Jones bucket on the other end and a possible backcourt violation that wasn’t called, adding salt to the wound. WOOF.

The Mystics are now 0-12 (YIKES!), and fans are starting to feel sorry for them because they are a much better team than their record shows.

Here’s what hoops fans are saying:

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Who is Julie Vanloo? Meet the 31-year-old Mystics guard who is the WNBA’s oldest rookie

Meet Julie Vanloo, the 31-year-old WNBA rookie who’s been turning heads.

At 31 years old, Washington Mystics guard Julie Vanloo is the WNBA’s oldest rookie. How did she start playing in the league past the age that most rookies do? The answer is simple — Julie Vanloo made it happen.

Five years post-WNBA championship, the Washington Mystics are transforming. There’s no Natasha Cloud, Elena Delle Donne or even Kristi Toliver who will walk through that door and suddenly help the Mystics be better. (It’s a full-on REBUILD.)

But, the Mystics have several young pieces to be excited about, like Aaliyah Edwards, who they picked up in the 2024 WNBA Draft and 31-year-old Belgian hooper Julie Vanloo. Per Kareem Copeland of The Washington Post, Vanloo decided before her 30th birthday that she wanted to play in the WNBA. This is what she shared about her dream:

“I just wanted to live with no regrets,” she said Tuesday. “And I just wanted to do everything I could to do it. And if it didn’t happen, then at least I tried everything.”

Vanloo’s extensive basketball career, which includes winning a Eurobasket championship with the Belgian national team, caught the eye of Mystics general manager Mike Thibault. Thibault had been scouting Vanloo’s team for years as part of his responsibilities with USA Basketball.

As Vanloo’s game evolved, so did Washington’s interest in her. She signed with the team in February, and three games into the season, she started her first game after veteran Brittney Sykes went down with an ankle injury.

“It was definitely something special,” Vanoloo told Copeland. “You’re starting in the WNBA — I never thought that would even happen this year.”

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Jewell Loyd, Skylar Diggins-Smith lead Storm to first win of season

We could see this a lot this season.

Seattle Storm fans are going to learn a lot about their new backcourt of [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] and [autotag]Skylar Diggins-Smith[/autotag]. Those two played together at Notre Dame, and now, they have a chance to work together in the WNBA. Hopefully, there will be plenty of moments involving them both during their time in the Pacific Northwest.

The league acknowledged the duo’s past with the Irish when posting highlights of the Storm’s 84-75 win over the Washington Mystics, their first victory of the season, on social media:

Diggins-Smith also led the Storm with five assists, though those were somewhat offset by her game-high seven turnovers. Meanwhile, half of Loyd’s points came from the free-throw line. However, none of that should diminish the fact that both players were phenomenal during this particular game.

Both players will be in Chicago on May 28 to play the Sky. Five of the WNBA’s eight Irish representatives will be under the same roof. The others will be [autotag]Marina Mabrey[/autotag], [autotag]Brianna Turner[/autotag] and [autotag]Lindsay Allen[/autotag].

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Angel Reese’s popularity has the Mystics changing arenas for their game against the Sky

Put some respect on Angel Reese’s name

Caitlin Clark isn’t the only WNBA rookie out here moving the needle, folks.

The Bayou Chi-Town Barbie built her name on her work at LSU, but she’s taking all that she’s built with her to the WNBA.

As soon as her name was called last month, Angel Reese became one of the most popular players in the WNBA. We’ve already seen her flex her stardom quite a bit this season with her tearing up the Met Gala before beating down the New York Liberty in a preseason game for Chicago.

Teams will have to adjust when Angel Reese comes to their arena this season just like they’re doing with Clark. The Washington Mystics are already on it.

To accommodate larger crowds, the Mystics are moving their June 6 game against the Chicago Sky from the Entertainment and Sports Arena to a bigger venue in Capital One Arena, where the Wizards play their games.

Sheesh, man. What’s funny is that the very next night the Mystics will be right back at Captial One Arena on June 7. Why? Caitlin Clark is in the building.

It’s going to be a fun week in D.C.

The Washington Mystics are slowly approaching dumpster fire status

The Washington Mystics are a mess.

With the WNBA offseason comes change, but sometimes, that change can shake a franchise’s future. If the Washington Mystics don’t figure things out quickly, their situation will turn into a dumpster fire, and that is not where they want to be.

The 2023 season was not very kind to Washington. The franchise was plagued by many injuries, including significant injuries to Elena Delle Donne, Kristi Toliver and Shakira Austin. Still, Washington was riding confidently into the postseason, supported by a gutsy last-second heave from Brittney Sykes to beat the New York Liberty during their last regular season game — only to lose to New York in the first round just days later.

In December 2023, Kristi Toliver retired, opting to become the associate head coach for the Phoenix Mercury. Owner Ted Leonsis also unveiled plans that could potentially uproot the Mystics to Capital One Arena, leaving them vulnerable to poor attendance records. But the pain doesn’t stop there.

This month, there were franchise-shifting moves. Natasha Cloud signed with the Mercury (where Toliver is now on staff), and on February 7, news broke that Elena Delle Donne is stepping away from basketball.

As we’ve seen with the Chicago Sky this offseason, things can change very quickly. Like Chicago, it’s hard to understand where Washington is going, and they almost certainly look like a dumpster fire waiting to happen. Perhaps these are the first steps to rebuilding and a sign of things to come. But if they aren’t, fans are not going to be happy with the shaky foundation ownership has seemingly created.

Well, at least Washington fans have the Wizards to fall back on — oh no!

How the Washington Mystics could be affected by the Wizards and Capitals move to Virginia

The Washington Mystics could be on the move, but hold the celebration.

The WNBA is rapidly growing, but the Washington Mystics’ potential move to a new arena is the latest example of not reading the room.

Entertainment & Sports Arena has been the home of the Mystics since 2019. It’s located near the heart of Southeast Washington, D.C. and gives super intimate vibes with the 4,200-seat capacity building that saw Washington win its first title.

But that might be changing soon in stunning fashion.

On Wednesday, Mystics owner Ted Leonsis announced an agreement (pending approval) to create an Entertainment District in Alexandria, Virginia at Potomac Yard. The deal moves the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards to the new arena by 2028.

It also means the Washington Mystics could be potentially uprooted.

On the surface, Leonis’s move seems admirable. Moving the Mystics gives them an upgraded facility and the ability to attract more fans — almost 16,000 more — to women’s sports.

However, more than one thing can be true: This disturbs the fan culture and experience the Mystics have already built, and it forces their growth to be questioned. (And that’s on top of how the Wizards’ and Capitals’ move could affect the culture and community.)

The Mystics play in one of the smaller arenas in the league, and even if they maintain their standard attendance levels moving forward, it could take some time to fill Capital One Arena to capacity.

That’s no fault of the Mystics, who are doing their part to support the growth of the WNBA. But I imagine forthcoming photos of empty seats during home games and how they will imply that “no one watches women’s sports” — when that’s not the case — and it infuriates me.

Maybe Leonis is betting on that growth. Perhaps he’s got a vision that I do not understand. But, right now, this feels awfully disheartening to those in the Mystics organization, and I can’t shake that feeling.

Everything you should know about the WNBA’s expansion team

It’s provocative. It gets the people going!

Hoopers, assemble! The WNBA announced plans for an expansion team Thursday, and the news makes me want to relive my glory days as an only-in-my-driveway 3-point specialist.

It seems the WNBA has been listening to everyone begging for expansion because it’s partnering with the Golden State Warriors to add an expansion team to the league. The Warriors are the sixth NBA franchise to have a WNBA team, joining others who have made the jump, such as the Brooklyn Nets (New York Liberty,) Washington Wizards (Washington Mystics) and Minnesota Timberwolves (Minnesota Lynx).

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert expressed her excitement: “We are thrilled about expanding to the Bay Area and bringing the WNBA to a region with passionate basketball fans and a strong history of supporting women’s basketball,” via the league’s official site.

Here’s everything we know about the expansion team so far.

This story will be updated.

Elena Delle Donne leads Mystics to win over first-place Aces in return

The Mystics held the Aces below 70 points for just the second time this season in their 78-62 victory.

Washington Mystics player Elena Delle Donne returned to the court in spectacular fashion. She had a team-high 21 points in just 22 minutes of play in the Mystics’ 78-62 win over the Las Vegas Aces.

Delle Donne was nursing a hip injury before her return but admitted she isn’t playing scared.

“I’m playing free,” Delle Donne said. “I don’t think about injuries or, ‘Oh, what if I step on a foot again.’ It’s basketball, and you’ve got to just enjoy the moments you’re out there and play as hard as you can.”

The Mystics held the Aces below 70 points, which is just the second time this season the Aces failed to cross that mark. Aces superstar A’ja Wilson recorded her 20th double-double of the season, which is the second-most in the WNBA this season. The Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas holds the top spot with 25 this season.

“It felt so good to be out there … just to have the whole group out there felt good,” Delle Donne said. “I think you could see it; we were just playing with joy, sharing the ball, trusting in each other. That’s what it can look like.”

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A passionate Lynx fan drowned out the broadcast crew during the final moments of a close win

“Take them down, finish it!!!”

Thanks to dynamite performances from Diamond Miller and Napheesa Collier, the Minnesota Lynx didn’t need much help securing a 97-92 win over the Washington Mystics Wednesday night.

They seemingly got it anyway, in the form of a fan near the courtside. As the Lynx prepared to close Washington out, the NBATV broadcast panned to this fan and his very evident passion. While the crew was trying to analyze the final few moments and set the stage, his loud energy simply drowned the broadcast out. It was to the point where you could barely hear the announcing team.

I know the camera panned over to him for that passion specifically, but that can’t have been what the broadcast planned for at such a critical moment.

Honestly? That’s what it’s all about. A fan getting invested in a close game is why we watch sports in the first place. So be it if it rubs against the analysis for a moment or two.