Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
Today was the day Mystics fans have been waiting for since all of those first round draft picks came their way for the 2025 season, opening night and they didn’t disappoint in 94-90 victory over the Atlanta Dream.
For most of the first half of the game it was a back-and-forth battle between both teams with neither team pulling away. The second quarter had both teams dead even with 21 points in the quarter.
The difference in the game in the second half was Brittnay Sykes, who finished the game with 22 points, 19 of those she hit on during the second half. She has emerged as a leader for this team and the Mystics are going to rely heavily on her if they are going to have the success that Head Coach Sydney Johnson anticipates from this team.
Allisha Gray tied her career high with six 3-pointers and finished with 25 points for Atlanta. Brittney Griner scored 11 of her 18 in the final six-plus minutes and Brionna Jones finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Rhyne Howard added 11 points and six assists.
The Mystics have had quite a few close games where they just have not been able to finish, tonight was the difference from last year’s team to this one.
Washington held the lead, 88-86 over the Dream with 1:20 remaining in the game after Atlanta’s Allisha Gray was at it again, making a driving layup. Gray was fouled on the play by Mystics Rookie Kiki Iriafen. She hit the and-one free throw to cut the Dream’s deficit to one point.
The Mystics again went to Sykes to get the job done and she hit two free throws to extend Washington’s lead to 90-87, but a free throw from Atlanta’s Brionna Jones and a 13-foot pull-up jumper from Brittney Griner tied to game at 90-90 with 34 seconds remaining. The Mystics responded by going on 4-0 run to close the game.
“This is a game we wanted to get when we walked in this building today,” said Mystics Head Coach Sydney Johnson. “It was a good feeling to just get that first victory and now we focus on Connecticut on Sunday.”
