– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT — What’s new in Washington is old again so far; the regime change and reset by the Mystics franchise, with fresh faces on the sidelines and on the court, has resulted in some winning early returns, and Sunday’s triumph also showed this iteration of the Mystics may have some resolve in their reserves.
Brittney Sykes scored 27 points for the Mystics, who came back from a 15-point deficit to defeat the Connecticut Sun 90-85 inside Mohegan Sun Arena to start 2-0 on the season. Rookies Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron combined for 32 points, while Jade Melbourne chipped in with 15 points, making three of Washington’s five three-pointers to help the Mystics spoil Connecticut’s season opener.
The decision by first-year Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson to start both of the team’s 2025 first-round draft picks, Iriafen and Citron, from the off has paid immediate dividends, with both players stepping up big during Washington’s comeback from a five-point deficit to start the fourth quarter. Citron, along with Sykes, scored nine of her points in the fourth quarter, while Iriafen grabbed seven of her 14 rebounds in the frame. Both Citron and Iriafen scored in double figures in the Mystics’ season-opening win against Atlanta in D.C., with Citron making six of her seven shots from the field (and make both three-point shots she took) on her way to 19 points in her WNBA debut.
Washington made 9-of-16 from the field (56.2 percent) in the fourth quarter.
Melbourne, the third-year guard from Australia who had scored in double figures seven times in the WNBA in her first two seasons in the league, has now started this campaign with back-to-back double-figure outings after her 11 points on Friday against Atlanta. On Sunday, she made all three of her shots from the field in the third quarter, including two threes — though, ironically, Melbourne missed three of her four three-throw attempts in the frame.
Connecticut fell short in the regular-season debut of head coach Rachid Meziane, part of an overhaul of the Sun’s roster during the offseason. Five players scored in double figures for the Sun, led by Tina Charles’ 23 points and 10 rebounds. Two other former University of Connecticut players, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Bria Hartley, had 18 and 11 points, respectively, with the former making all eight of her free throw attempts.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by New England-based photographer Amy Abramson-Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 34 pictures in total.
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