Mystics vs. Sun: Shakira Austin's 25 and 13 Power Washington to a Franchise-Record 27th Win of the Season

The 2019 Washington Mystics have a championship and, until Tuesday night, they had the franchise record for wins in a season. They still have the championship. The 26-win mark belongs to somebody else now.

Shakira Austin went for 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the 2026 Mystics beat the Connecticut Sun 79-69 in front of 4,200 at CareFirst Arena for their 27th win, the most in a single season in franchise history. According to the AP, the old record of 26 was set in 2019, the year Washington went on to win its only WNBA championship.

Not Pretty, Still Plenty

Nobody will be framing the film from this one. Washington shot 38% from the field, made just six 3-pointers and got outrebounded at home. The Mystics still led for most of the night, and that comes down to the one thing they did far better than Connecticut: take care of the basketball.

Washington jumped out to a 23-16 lead after one quarter, but Connecticut won the second 26-21 and went to the locker room down only 44-42. The Sun even held a brief four-point lead at one stage, their biggest of the night.

The third quarter is where Washington found separation. Per the AP, a 15-4 Washington burst had the margin in double digits by the 3:26 mark, and Cotie McMahon buried a 3 roughly a minute and a half later to make it 66-53.

Connecticut refused to fold. The Sun scored the final five points of the third quarter and the first three of the fourth, an 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 66-61 with 8:34 remaining. That is when Austin took over the closing stretch. Starting with a free throw at 4:53, she scored five straight Washington points, finishing a Sonia Citron feed for a layup and then hitting a 14-foot pullup off an Amoore pass that made it 77-63 with 2:56 left. That was Washington's largest lead of the night, and the Sun never threatened again.

Austin's Record-Setting Night

Austin was the best player on the floor, and her stat line came loaded with history. She went 7 of 14 from the field, 11 of 15 at the line and added four steals while finishing plus-9 in 35 minutes. Per the AP, the 11 made free throws were a career high, the 13 rebounds pushed her single-season franchise record to 397, and the double-double was her 20th of the season.

That last number unlocked a fun piece of trivia. Austin and Kiki Iriafen, who has 22 double-doubles this season, are the first teammates in WNBA history to each reach 20 double-doubles in the same season, according to the AP. Iriafen did not add to her total on Tuesday, finishing with four points and five rebounds in 18 minutes after picking up five fouls.

Off the bench, McMahon gave Washington 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, two 3-pointers and a plus-12. Citron added 12 points on 6-of-6 free throws with a game-best plus-18. Georgia Amoore scored eight. Lauren Betts had a strange night, blocking four shots and grabbing six offensive rebounds while going 3 of 14 from the field.

Connecticut's Glass Was Half Full

Diamond Miller led the Sun with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and added six rebounds and three blocks. Leila Lacan and Raegan Beers scored 11 apiece, though Lacan committed six turnovers and Beers spent the night in foul trouble with five. Aaliyah Edwards pulled down 13 rebounds but shot 4 of 14. Charlisse Leger-Walker added seven points and eight rebounds, and Nell Angloma scored seven off the bench, but the Sun scored only 11 points in the fourth quarter, their lowest output of any period.

The Sun won the boards 43-34 and handed out 21 assists to Washington's 13. That rebounding margin is notable, because the AP reports the Mystics have outrebounded opponents a WNBA-record 39 times this season. Connecticut made sure that number did not become 40.

The Turning Point

The third-quarter run was the moment, but turnovers built the platform. Connecticut coughed it up 18 times, and Washington turned those mistakes into 28 points. The Mystics committed six turnovers all night, and the Sun scored two points off them. In a game where the teams were nearly identical from the field, that gap was the whole story.

Stats That Matter

• 28-2: Points off turnovers, Washington. Not a typo.
• 18-6: Turnovers, Connecticut versus Washington.
• 19 of 25: Washington at the free-throw line. Connecticut attempted 12 free throws all game.
• 43-34: The Sun's rebounding edge, a rare loss on the glass for this Mystics team.
• 38% vs. 39%: Washington shot worse than Connecticut from the field and still won by 10.

What It Means

The Mystics are 27-16 overall and 14-7 at home, and they have won three straight. Per the AP, the win also widened their cushion over Dallas and New York, currently tied for seventh, to a full game, with only two days of regular-season play remaining. Washington closed the season series against Connecticut at 3-1.

Connecticut fell to 10-33, including 3-19 on the road. By our count of the schedule, the Sun have lost six straight, their last win an 87-81 home victory over Chicago on Aug. 25.

Both teams wrap up the regular season Thursday. The Sun host Toronto in a finale for both clubs, and the Mystics stay home to face Chicago.

Closing Take

Breaking a franchise record set by a championship team is like beating the high score on the arcade machine where the legends left their initials. It does not erase what the 2019 group did, and nobody in Washington would pretend it does. But the 2026 Mystics now own a line in the record book that nobody else in franchise history has reached, and they got it on a night when they did not even play that well. That is what good teams do.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Additional context as reported by the Associated Press.