Subscribe
Follow Us
It's no secret that the Washington Mystics faced a shorthanded Indiana Fever squad in the city of Baltimore's first-ever WNBA game on Wednesday night. Generational superstar Caitlin Clark (quad), who many of the announced 11,183 fans in the sold-out CFG Bank Arena crowd came to see, was out. Regardless, the Mystics still took care of business in the 83-77 victory, led once again by veteran guard Brittney Sykes.
The 31-year-old led Washington with 21 points and nine rebounds while also tying for second with four assists, but she wasn't happy with her game-high seven turnovers.
I asked Brittney Sykes how she finds the right balance between scoring and facilitating. She led the Mystics with 21 points and was tied for second on the team with 4 assists.
However, she also had 7 turnovers, and she immediately mentioned how she needs to clean that up. pic.twitter.com/MbzyL8azFK
— Joshua Valdez (@joshvaldez100) May 29, 2025
“Well, I gotta stop turning it over so bad, I'd probably have more [points and assists]. But credit to my teammates,” she said postgame. “Yes, teams know I'm going to go to the basket, I'm one of the high-usage players, that's no secret. But then there comes a responsibility where, when you do have the ball in your possession so much, you should be able to create for others. I actually look for that a lot more than I probably should, and I get in trouble for it.”
Sykes is both the top scorer and facilitator for the Mystics so far, as she leads with 22 points and 4.8 assists per game. However, the 2025 Unrivaled champion also tops the squad with 3.2 turnovers, good for a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. She trails center Stefanie Dolson (1.8) and fellow guard Jade Melbourne (1.6) in the latter stat.
The key for Sykes is to ensure that she at least sticks to that average ratio each game. Consistently having more turnovers than assists, like she did on Wednesday, isn't a recipe for success.
With that being said, Sykes is not only aware of that fact but is surrounded by enough talent to bail her out when she makes mistakes.
“But it's really good knowing that when I do create, I have somebody like a Kira [Shakira Austin], a Kiki [Iriafen], a Soni [Sonia Citron], a Stef, like I could do the whole roster, that's going to put the ball in the basket, which holds the defense accountable,” she continued. “They don't get to just stay and watch me all night, they gotta prepare for everybody and know that anybody at any given moment could go for 10-plus. It doesn't matter if it's me or not.”
Almost everyone on Washington's roster had a productive game. Rookies Iriafen (16 points, eight rebounds) and Citron (13 points, seven rebounds) continued their hot starts, while the veteran Austin (13 points, three rebounds, two steals) had her best game of the season after returning from a concussion. Additionally, fellow rookie Lucy Olsen scored a season-high six points (2-3 FG, 2-2) in just six minutes.
The Mystics don't have a star yet, but they have a deep rotation that has yet to lose by more than six points in a game so far, and that's been with injuries to Austin, Sykes, and second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards. They've shown early on that Sykes running the show, along with leaning heavily on Citron and Iriafen, is a competitive formula.
Mystics' Sydney Johnson describes skill of Caitlin Clark-less Fever
Article Continues Below
Indiana was no slouch without Clark, as it still won the first and fourth quarters. Six-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner led with 21 points (5-10 FG, 2-4 3 PT) in 25 minutes off the bench, and two-time All-Star Natasha Howard added 11 points (5-10 FG) with six rebounds in 17 minutes. The squad also won the turnover and free-throw battles, conceding 10 points off turnovers against Washington's 14 and shooting 22-of-27 from the charity stripe vs. 19-of-25 for Washington.
However, the Mystics had 41 rebounds compared to the Fever's 33, and shot 43.5 percent from the field against the Fever's 39.7 percent. They also won the second-chance and fastbreak points battles 17-11 and 11-0, showing their versatility.
Washington head coach Sydney Johnson was pleased with his team's effort against one of the WNBA's most talented teams.
Mystics coach Sydney Johnson on how the Fever are still challenging to face even without Caitlin Clark: pic.twitter.com/l01SLtPAZ5
— Joshua Valdez (@joshvaldez100) May 29, 2025
“They're [the Fever are] good…Caitlin's really good, but Kelsey [Mitchell], AB [Aliyah Boston], [Lexie] Hull, Sophie [Cunningham], Sydney [Colson], Howard…This is a team that a lot of people feel will threaten for the league title, and for good reason,” he said. “So very, very talented team. I think without Caitlin, she has a lot of usage there, but they play really fast, they play inside, they cut hard, and they dig in defensively. I feel like we had to play really well in order to beat them, and thankfully we did.”
To Johnson's point, Boston is tied for fourth in the league with 10 rebounds per game and is second with 2.2 blocks. Additionally, Mitchell is 13th with 17 points a night, and Colson is a two-time WNBA champion. That's a roster that a rebuilding team should be proud of beating.
Next up for the Mystics is a home date with the defending-champion New York Liberty on Friday night.
