Mystics close out regular season with wire-to-wire defeat of Sky

Sonia Citron scored 21 points while Kiki Iriafen and Michaela Onyenwere chipped in 16 apiece to boost the host Washington Mystics to a 101-93 victory against the Chicago Sky on Thursday in both teams' regular-season finale.

The Mystics never trailed and led by as many as 25 points en route to clinching at least the sixth seed in the WNBA playoffs, which are set to begin Sunday. They could climb to the No. 5 spot with an Indiana loss at Minnesota later Thursday.

Washington (28-16) capped a monumental regular season in which it secured a 12-win improvement from 2025 while setting a franchise record for victories.

The Mystics finished their sweep of the three-game season series against Chicago behind five double-figure scorers. Georgia Amoore had 14 points and Cotie McMahon 12. Iriafen grabbed 15 rebounds and Shakira Austin had 11 along with seven points.

Kamilla Cardoso, Sydney Taylor and Courtney Vandersloot scored 16 points apiece for the Sky (16-28), who lost 27-plus games for the third straight season and will miss the playoffs for the third straight year. Rachel Banham chipped in 12 points for Chicago, which got 10 rebounds from Cardoso and seven assists from Vandersloot.

Austin exited the game in the fourth quarter after taking a hard fall. Austin had been navigating a knee injury down the stretch.

Chicago trailed by 19 entering the fourth quarter and went down by 13 on an Alicia Florez 3-pointer with 2:10 to go. Fueled by six points from Vandersloot, including a four-point play, the Sky erupted for nine straight points over the next 1:10, cutting the deficit to 95-91.

Iriafen stopped the run with a basket with 38.5 seconds left. Amoore added four straight free throws to close out the game.

A fast start propelled Washington to its fourth straight victory. The Sky trailed 31-16 after one quarter while shooting 35% from the floor. That included an 0-for-9 effort from deep.

Washington countered with a 12-for-20 showing from the floor in the first quarter, with Iriafen and Onyenwere contributing eight points apiece.

The Mystics finished plus-17 on the glass (44 to 27).