Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
For a preseason game, tonight’s energy inside of Carefirst Arena seemed more like competing for a final playoff spot for the Mystics. What that energy was about was seeing all of the new faces on the court for the first time this season, but the Lynx would get the final bite in this one with a 77-66 victory that has little or no bearing on where this team heads this season.
One thing that seemed much different from last season was the presence of Georgia Amoore on the court for the first time since her injury sidelined her for the entire 2025 season. While she was limited tonight due to early foul trouble, Amoore finished with 3 points in just a little over 12 minutes on the court.
Amoore could be seen really running the offense and her lack of scoring tonight didn’t really show fans as much as she did find other players and getting them into scoring opportunities. She will create a lot this season with her speed and ability to see the floor and when unguarded will be putting up quite a few shots that the Mystics may not have done a lot of in previous seasons.
One thing that really stood out tonight was some of their defensive efforts in the first half and they forced top WNBA draft pick and rookie guard, Olivia Miles, into four first half turnovers. They also forced the Lynx into 13 turnovers overall on just 36 percent shooting. This led to Mystics going into the locker room up 40-36. This is about where the winning strategy sort of wore off.
Starting the second half, the Mystics looked a bit like the old, going all the way to the 4:28 mark of the 3rd quarter before they scored. The young core seemed to be getting beat down the court by the Lynx at least 4 times during that stretch and the lack of veteran leadership outside of Sonia Citron was felt.
The 1 for 14 shooting in the 3rd quarter will hopefully change once both Shakira Austin (overseas commitment) and Kiki Iriafen (injury) both return to the lineup.
Notables that need to be watched as a huge addition off the bench this season was the performance by rookie Cotie McMahon, who gave the Mystics a spark with 11 points and really kept this game a lot closer in the first half then it would have been,
Today also marked the first game by Lynx rookie Saylor Poffenbarger, who grew up in Frederick finished her college career Maryland and scored 9 points and had 13 rebounds in 26 minutes. All this while Terps Head Coach Brenda Frese looked on.
