2017 Washington Mystics season

2017 Washington Mystics season
2017 Washington Mystics season
Coach	Mike Thibault
Arena	Verizon Center
Attendance	7,771 per game
Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Semifinals v. Minnesota
Team Leaders
Points	Elena Delle Donne 19.7 ppg
Rebounds	Krystal Thomas 9.6 rpg
Assists	Kristi Toliver 3.4 apg
Media
Television	CSN Mid-Atlantic (CSN-MA)
	← 2016 season 2018 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.^[1]^[2]
Bria Hartley and Kia Vaughn were traded to the New York Liberty.^[2]
The 2nd round draft pick (15th overall) was traded to the Seattle Storm.^[2]

Roster

2017 Washington Mystics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	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

Preseason

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

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

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

#	Eastern Conference v t e	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)			Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10)			Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17)					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

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

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	^[3]

References

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

External links

The Official Site of the Washington Mystics

[1] "Mystics Acquire Elena Delle Donne". Mystics Today. February 2, 2017. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.

[transactions-2] "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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