The Mystics are looking to avoid being the last winless squad in the W.
The Washington Mystics are spending the weekend in the Pacific Northwest to face off against the Seattle Storm Saturday night.
At 0-5, Washington has had a brutal start to the season and is one of just two winless clubs left in this young WNBA season. Seattle is off to a disappointing 2-3 start after signing perennial All-Stars Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith in the offseason to pair with last year’s scoring champion Jewell Loyd.
The Mystics are entering the post-Elena Delle Donne era and are headed by leading scorers Ariel Atkins and Shakira Austin. Rookie Aaliyah Edwards out of UConn has been solid, though she’s only scored in double figures once so far in her first season.
The Storm entered the season as dark horse championship contenders after adding Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith via free agency, but they still have a lot of work to do to meet preseason expectations.
The Mystics and Storm have already played each other once this season. Seattle won that game convincingly, 84-75, behind 24 points from Jewell Loyd and 15 points and 14 rebounds from Ezi Magbegor. This time, Seattle will also add rookie Nika Muhl from UConn to the mix. Muhl, a Croatian, missed the first few games of the season due to work visa complications.
Mystics at Storm tips off at 9 p.m. EST Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Watch it on Monumental Sports Network.