With injured players making their returns to the court, the Washington Mystics look like a completely different team compared to just weeks ago.

For the first time since early June, Washington has a healthy roster. Elena Delle Donne and Shakira Austin, who both missed significant time with injuries, are back on the court. And in Tuesday’s 83-72 win over the Lynx, not a single name was listed on the injury report.

“It was just a really dope moment,” Natasha Cloud told the Washington Post. “We’ve been through f—ing hell.

“It was a rough month and a half [of] playing down numbers, playing crazy lineups, having to adjust in a lot of minutes. So just to have everyone back [when] we’re making this playoff push and we’re really starting to peak and putting some wins together, it’s like the sweetest moment of the season for me right now.”

Kristi Toliver also made her return Tuesday, playing for the first time since June 16 after suffering from plantar fasciitis. And while Toliver, Delle Donne, Austin and Ariel Atkins remain on minute restrictions, it’s a step in the right direction.

With Tuesday’s win, the Mystics leapfrogged the Lynx into the fifth playoff spot. The Mystics (17-18) now hold a half-game lead on Minnesota and Atlanta with five games left in the regular season.

“It’s huge,” Brittney Sykes said of the win. “No, seriously, it is really big. We don’t want to get too caught up in looking ahead or thinking about, ‘Oh, well, if these teams win, if we win it, if we lose, they lose’ — it’s literally controlling our controllables.”

Of course, the team still has to juggle its returning players and monitor their progress. But the Mystics could be coming together at just the right time.

“It was good to have options,” head coach Eric Thibault said. “It feels a little choppy yet, kind of because I’m putting people in and yanking them out. We didn’t get a great rhythm, but we made some shots. Made some shots late in the clock, which was probably the difference in the game. We’ve been on the wrong end of a couple of those. We kept defending. I don’t know if we win this game earlier in the season.”

The Dallas Wings’ loss Sunday to the Chicago Sky featured two ejections and a fight during a chippy WNBA weekend, one which has resulted in one suspension and seven fines for players.

Wings star Arike Ogunbowale, one of the players ejected Sunday, gave voice afterward to a question that has echoed across the league this season: What is going on with the referees?

Ogunbowale received her second ejection of the season for making unnecessary contact with an official with 52 seconds left in the game. The 26-year-old guard’s shoulder knocked against the referee’s shoulder, which led to the technical foul and ejection.

“[The referee] was looking for something. I just watched it back a million times,” Ogunbowale said after the game. “I don’t know what’s going on this year with the refs but that was the worst call I’ve ever seen in my life.”

While Ogunbowale avoided a suspension, she did receive a fine for her contact with the official and for her postgame comments. Sky forward Ruthy Hebard received a one-game suspension and a fine for leaving the bench area during an on-court altercation earlier in the game, and her teammate Courtney Williams received a fine for doing the same.

The WNBA also handed out punishments for an altercation during Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics. Los Angeles’ Layshia Clarendon and Washington’s Ariel Atkins, Brittney Sykes and Shakira Austin all received fines.

Mystics players Elena Delle Donne and Natasha Cloud both have expressed frustration with WNBA officiating this season. In May, Delle Donne criticized the referees for treating her “like a rookie with calls.” In July, Cloud had even harsher words for the referees.

“I don’t care what pipeline refs we have coming through. I don’t care,” she said. “We have to do our job every single night. You need to do yours. This is bull—t. This is f–king bull–t.”

In June, Atlanta Dream coach Tanisha Wright questioned the officiating in one of her team’s games, particularly a flagrant-one call on New York Liberty guard Stefanie Dolson that Wright believes warranted a flagrant-two and an ejection.

“We’re expected to play at a high level every single night… The officials need to be able to rise to that same occasion. They should be held to that same standard,” Wright said. “They’re going to fine me for this, but I’m challenging them to raise their standards… Officiating needs to get better, period.”

Also in June, Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd — after scoring a career-high 41 points — took time to call out officiating issues.

“Protect the players,” Loyd said. “It’s not just us. Every single team has said something about the refs. That tells you that something is going wrong in that department. You expect high-level players, we expect high-level refs. We’re not getting that every single night.”

Natasha Cloud is fed up with WNBA officiating.

Following the Washington Mystics’ 97-92 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, Cloud called out the referees in no uncertain terms. The Mystics “do not get calls,” she said. She also noted that she did not care about a potential fine, saying: “I’m going to get my money’s worth.”

“I don’t care what pipeline refs we have coming through. I don’t care,” she told the Washington Post’s Kareem Copeland. “We have to do our job every single night. You need to do yours. This is bull—t. This is f–king bull–t.”

The Mystics were cited for 18 personal fouls, resulting in 23 free throws shot by the Lynx, of which they made 19. Meanwhile, the Lynx were called for just eight fouls, and the Mystics went 4-of-4 on their free throws.

“This is crazy. Can’t even do our jobs and have an even game,” Cloud continued. “Four to f–king 24. We shot four free throws for 40 minutes. Four free throws. … It’s real. And the Washington Mystics are tired of not getting f–king calls.”

As the final score showed, the Mystics and the Lynx played a close game, so the free throw discrepancy affected the game’s result. And this is not the first time this season that a Mystics player has called out officiating issues

Elena Delle Donne, who missed the majority of the past three seasons with injuries, called out WNBA referees in May, saying that she is being treated “like a rookie.” Delle Donne has been out since July 9 with an ankle injury.

“I’m just going to say it,” Delle Donne said. “I’m so sick of being treated like a rookie with calls. If I get fined — whatever. It’s unbelievable. I’ve been through too many back surgeries to — whatever.

“I just keep attacking, in the end I hope that because I can elevate and jump over people, you can see that my arm is getting hit. I just keep attacking and hoping that it’ll change. Hopefully it’ll change next game, but there’s really nothing you can do in those moments.”

Elena Delle Donne is calling out WNBA officiating, saying she is being treated “like a rookie” by referees.

The Washington Mystics expressed her frustration with foul calls (or lack thereof) during Sunday’s grueling road loss to the Connecticut Sun, the same team the Mystics will host Tuesday night.

“I’m just going to say it,” Delle Donne said. “I’m so sick of being treated like a rookie with calls. If I get fined — whatever. It’s unbelievable. I’ve been through too many back surgeries to — whatever.

“I just keep attacking, in the end I hope that because I can elevate and jump over people, you can see that my arm is getting hit. I just keep attacking and hoping that it’ll change. Hopefully it’ll change next game, but there’s really nothing you can do in those moments. You just, when you see something, you’ve gotta still attack it. And thank goodness for Shakira, who stepped up and took over.”

Both Delle Donne and Shakira Austin finished with double-doubles in the loss, but Delle Donne found herself in foul trouble five five while Austin had four. Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones each had five fouls for the Sun.

“It’s all just about timing — knowing when you should probably do certain things and when you should take advantage and be aggressive one-on-one. Still figuring it out,” Austin said.

Still, Mystics players agreed that the rough defense contributed to some issues. First-year Mystics head coach Eric Thibault received his first technical foul in his new position.

“I wouldn’t say it spooked us or anything like that, but it definitely takes you off your rhythm, especially as an offensive team that has a flow,” Mystics guard Ariel Atkins said. “Obviously you would like a few calls to go your way, but if you put the game in the hands of the ref, you always lose.”

Natasha Cloud knows some people haven’t yet woken up to what’s possible for the Washington Mystics this year.

“Y’all can keep sleeping (on us),” the five-foot-nine guard said after the Mystics defeated the New York Liberty, 80-64, to open the 2023 WNBA season.

“We’re confident in what we have in this locker room and you can continue to talk about the super hero teams. But we know who we are and we know what we bring every single night.”

While the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces made huge offseason moves, the Mystics’ path to the start of the WNBA season was more subtle. Elena Delle Donne, who has dealt with a back injury for three straight seasons, says she is as strong as she’s ever been. And she looked it on Friday night, recording 13 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals against the Liberty. Cloud, Ariel Atkins, and Kristi Toliver also added double-digit points.

While Liberty fans might have been surprised by the result, Delle Donne wasn’t.

“It’s what we’ve been doing in training camp. And we don’t care about the outside noise,” the two-time WNBA MVP said. “We don’t care about the storylines. It’s not going to change how we show up every single day, take care of one another and get the work we need to get done each day.”

As for the New York “super hero” team?

“This was a huge lesson for us,” Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot said.

“We can learn a lot from this,” echoed Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello. “The team with the most chemistry certainly won tonight. We were not very good, and they were very good.”

As WNBA training camp continues, so do roster cuts, which led to Washington Mystics star Natasha Cloud highlighting the need for expansion.

“We need more teams,” she wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “These players deserve to be on a roster. It really kills me.”

Evina Westbrook and Alisia Jenkins were waived from the Mystics’ roster on Sunday. Westbrook played six games for Washington last season, averaging 3.3 points per game. Jenkins, meanwhile, was signed to a training camp contract in February.

Of course, WNBA expansion has been a hot-button issue for the past few years as teams have continued to feel the squeeze of a 12-player roster. While the 12-team league is looking into – and is narrowing down possible locations for – expansion, there hasn’t been much movement since the end of the 2022 season.

Meanwhile, the NWSL has capitalized on the growth of women’s sports with a two-team expansion set for 2024 and another team to be added in 2025 or 2026. They’ve also added three teams in the last four years, with both Angel City FC and San Diego setting league records in the last year.

Chicago Sky head coach and general manager James Wade told the Chicago Sun-Times that he’s postponed roster cuts as long as he can.

“You want to procrastinate because you hate to see people go,” Wade said. “I wouldn’t see [putting off making my first cuts] going past tomorrow. I want to get down to 13 for Toronto. I don’t want to take 15 players [to the last preseason game].

“It’s not a birthright; it’s a privilege,” he continued. “You have to work hard to be one of the 144 best players. It doesn’t mean you’re not a great player because you didn’t make it in the WNBA. It just means you have work to do, and that’s OK. It’s tough to play in the WNBA. Some of your favorite college players can’t make it in the WNBA.”

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has addressed expansion plans, including at the WNBA draft in April. But every time, the message remains the same: soon, but not yet.

Engelbert told Sports Business Journal in early May that the league began with a list of 100 potential cities for expansion that has since been narrowed down to 20, according to The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch. That number is up from the 12 cities she said remained on the shortlist last June.

“We are not in a rush,” Engelbert said in February.

And while she had said last year that she hoped to have two new franchises start as soon as 2024, that timeline has been pushed back to 2025 at the earliest, and talks have shifted to just one new team beginning play.

WNBA roster cuts can affect even some of the league’s best. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Emily Engslter, was cut by the Fever. She’s since been picked up by the Mystics, but the news was still a stark reminder of the state of the league.

“When you see a loved one get waived, that’s when it really hits you,” Indiana’s NaLyssa Smith said. “It shows how hard it is to make it in the league. [Players] have conversations about it. It’s very unfortunate for those who do get waived because they’re talented, and we’re so young.

“I’m definitely looking forward to expansion.”

Diana Taurasi and Elena Delle Donne have seen the hype surrounding the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces.

But even as the superteams generate excitement, the former WNBA MVPs are not counting out their own squads.

When asked if the expectations heaped on the Liberty and the Aces had lessened the pressure for the Phoenix Mercury, Taurasi pushed back, noting that pressure comes from within each player and each team.

“I put pressure on this team every day to come in and be its best,” she said. “The one thing that I have learned is you can’t control the narrative.”

The Liberty and the Aces dominate the betting odds for the 2023 WNBA championship, with New York at +130 and defending champion Las Vegas at +110 to win the title, per FanDuel sportsbook.

Still, the 40-year-old guard, who is entering her 19th WNBA season, expects this campaign to be one of the toughest yet.

“I think it’s going to be one of the most competitive seasons we’ve had in a long time,” Taurasi said.

Delle Donne’s Mystics sit a distant third in title odds at +1400 as training camp begins. But the 33-year-old sees a full 40-game season ahead rife with possibilities.

“There’s some people that would think, ‘Just fast-forward to the end of the season and let those two compete for the championship,'” she said. “But that’s something we’re excited to make our mark and do what we’re going to do.

“The best movies, the underdog ends up on top. Remember that.”

Elena Delle Donne is looking forward to being fully healthy this season.

The Washington Mystics star, who has dealt with a back injury for the last three seasons, said Monday that she’s as strong as she’s ever been. And she intends to make her presence felt for her team, both on and off the court.

After leading the Mystics to the 2019 WNBA title, Delle Donne missed the 2020 season due to injury. In 2021, she played just three games.

While she played through all of the 2022 season, the team managed her load. She played 25 of 36 games in the regular-season, skipping many of the road games in the first few months of the season.

“Throughout the past few years with my injury, not always traveling or being on the road, not being in each practice, being in and out, [it] was tough to find that presence and the same voice as being there every single day,” she said Monday. “So I’m excited that I’m there now. I’ll be there on the road. I don’t plan to miss any games. It’s different.”

The biggest thing, she said, is just being able to be present with the team throughout the entirety of the season. And she wants to put her near-decade of experience to use.

The Mystics have a roster which includes several veterans but also a number of younger players, including Shakira Austin and Evina Westbrook, who are both entering their second year in the league.

“I’ve been in this league for a while now. I’ve seen a lot of different coverages, different teams,” she said. “I’ve played with some of the greatest players to play this game. So, there’s a lot that I’ve learned and a lot that I feel like I can pass on to the rest of our team.

“And this is such a competitive league that you’ve got to find your way and find who you are as a team and I feel like I can help and my voice will do that.”

Jewell Loyd has set a precedent against the Mystics.

She’s been dominant in each of the Storm’s three regular-season meetings with Washington this year, scoring 22 points in their final matchup on 6-for-8 shooting from the 3-point line.

But in Thursday’s first-round playoff game, Washington seemed to have her figured out.

With Seattle down five points with 4:52 to play, Loyd had yet to make a field goal. The guard had four points, making two free throws in the first quarter and two more in the third, but her usual scoring acumen was absent.

img
Loyd matched up against Washington's Natasha Cloud for most of the game Thursday night. (Joshua Huston/NBAE via Getty Images)

Lest people forget Loyd’s experience level, the guard reminded the public and her teammates of it after the Storm’s 86-83 win over the Mystics in Game 1 of the first round

“(I’ve grown),” she said. “I’ve been in the league eight years, so if I haven’t grown that would be a problem.”

As Loyd, 28, finished her sentence, teammate Gabby Williams blurted out, “Oh my god. You’re so old!”

“I’m old, man,” Loyd responded with a smile. “I’m a vet.”

And a vet doesn’t let missed shots keep them down, especially not with the game on the line.

“As a rookie, you get frustrated when you’re not making shots,” she said. “You’re used to things being smooth, but when you’ve been in the league for a while, you understand the flow of the game, you understand who you are, your teammates, time, score, all those things.”

Loyd kept battling on Thursday night. She kept looking for her shot, and with less than five minutes left in a tight contest, she broke through for her first field goal, knocking down a step-back 3-pointer that cut the Mystics’ lead to 77-75.

From there, it was all Loyd. She added 10 more points down the stretch, and until Breanna Stewart hit two free throws with 14.6 seconds left, Loyd had scored all of her team’s points in the last five minutes of play.

Natasha Cloud, who spent most of the game matched up against Loyd, said the guard didn’t change anything about her game. She just stayed the course.

“Just a great player getting hot,” Cloud said. “She made tough shots down the stretch, and we knew they were going to go to her. And that’s just on me. I promise you I’m gonna be better next game.”

Loyd’s heroic run culminated with the go-ahead bucket with 38 seconds left on the clock.

As she dribbled toward the 3-point arc, she refused a screen from Stewart and continued on her line to the basket. Then, with Cloud on her right hip, Loyd took off on one-foot near the free-throw line. She used her athleticism to make a minor adjustment in the air and then fired a jumper.

It gave the Storm a one-point lead and resulted in a Washington timeout. Despite Elena Delle Donne’s 15 second-half points, and 26 overall, the Mystics came up short on their next possession and Seattle closed out the win on two Stewart free throws.

“I just stayed patient,”Lloyd said. “The second half came around and my teammates kept encouraging me, they threw it to me, and I was able to get to my spots.”

Storm coach Noelle Quinn has a unique perspective on Loyd’s game. Before joining the coaching staff in 2019, and eventually taking over as head coach last year, Quinn was Loyd’s teammate in Seattle.

Quinn says there were moments early in Loyd’s career when she started games slow and didn’t end up making the breakthrough. Since the Storm drafted her first overall in 2015, Loyd has won two WNBA championships, made four All-Star teams and earned many individual honors. Against the Mystics on Thursday, she showed that, even when things aren’t going her way in the beginning, her experience will carry her through.

“She pushed through today in a big way, in a major way,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t how she started, but how she finished. Those were big buckets down the stretch.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Myshia Hines-Allen and Sophie Cunningham exchanged words on the court Thursday, but the beef between the players has not ended there.

The duo got into it during the first quarter of the Phoenix Mercury’s 80-75 win over the Washington Mystics, with Washington’s Hines-Allen stepping over Phoenix’s Cunningham after the latter missed a 3-pointer. Cunningham responded by grabbing Hines-Allen’s leg.

The players had to be separated by teammates and each received a technical foul.

Following the game, though, Cunningham called the incident “nothing.”

“We’re feisty here,” Cunningham said postgame. “I thought I got fouled, she stepped over me, so why can’t I be a little feisty and sassy?”

Her Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi, who was involved in a controversial play of her own Thursday, said that she’s not concerned about the guard.

“In life there are certain people you don’t worry about,” Taurasi said. “I don’t worry about Sophie. If she was in a dark alley by herself, she’d be alright.”

Early Friday morning, Hines-Allen seemingly tweeted in response to Taurasi’s comment, writing, “Let’s go in an alley then…”

The altercation has sparked recollection of a similar incident during last season’s playoffs, in which Chicago’s Kahleah Copper famously “stepped over” Cunningham in the WNBA Finals. At the time, Cunningham asserted that Copper had “grabbed my neck” and said that people could “put me on all the T-shirts you want.”

Copper, who was named the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP, later responded by dropping the T-shirt on her website.