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
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 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

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 East: ATL • CHI • CON • IND • NY • WAS | West: DAL • LV • LA • MIN • PHO • SEA

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 (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured WNBA roster page

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	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	3
									5 Phoenix Mercury	0
					4 Connecticut Sun	83
					5 Phoenix Mercury	88
	5 Phoenix Mercury	79
	8 Seattle Storm	69
													1 Minnesota Lynx	3
													2 Los Angeles Sparks	2
	6 Washington Mystics	86
	7 Dallas Wings	76
					3 New York Liberty	68
					6 Washington Mystics	82
									1 Minnesota Lynx	3
									6 Washington Mystics	0

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

Semifinals

Team	1	2	3
1 Minnesota Lynx	101	93	81
6 Washington Mystics	81	83	70

Team	1	2	3
2 Los Angeles Sparks	79	86	89
5 Phoenix Mercury	66	72	87

WNBA Finals

Team	1	2	3	4	5
1 Minnesota Lynx	84	70	64	80	85
2 Los Angeles Sparks	85	68	75	69	76

Awards and honors

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

References

1. "Mystics Acquire Elena Delle Donne". Mystics Today. February 2, 2017.
2. "Transactions".
3. "Washington Mystics' Ivory Latta Earns Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award". wnba.com. wnba.com. 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-09-28.

External links

• The Official Site of the Washington Mystics