Washington Mystics Almost Punked the Former Champs with a Bunch of Honor Roll Kids

The Washington Mystics suffered a 75-72 loss and still nearly cooked the Las Vegas Aces in their house.

Sydney Johnson didn’t blink.

Didn’t stutter.

“They’ve got four Olympians. We have four baccalaureates.”

The Mystics gave the Aces hell anyway.

Quote of the damn year—and that was after the Mystics nearly punked the champs in their own arena.

It took a Jackie Young heat-check, a Kiah Stokes volleyball spike, and Jewell Loyd finally hitting one corner three for Vegas to claw out a 75–72 win.

This ain’t your usual 2–2 start. The kids are for real.

Washington’s youngins walked into Michelob Ultra Arena like it was midterms week and still damn near walked out with an A.

KIKI & CITRON ARE CERTIFIED

The leader of the class (and honestly maybe the 2025 WNBA Draft class)

Kiki Iriafen had a major game against one of the best players to play basketball in A’ja Wilson. For Washington’s frontcourt, Iriafen dropped 17 points and 13 rebounds on A’ja Wilson, and Kiah Stokes head.

“She’s the best player in the league, best player in the world,” Iriafen said of A’ja Wilson. “We’d rather her hit tough shots than get an easy one.”

It’s not just that Kiki Iriafen has three straight double-doubles to open her WNBA career. It’s how she’s doing it—chest-to-chest with the best frontcourt in basketball and not backing down one inch.

With her double double, Iriafen became the first rookie in franchise history to record three consecutive double-doubles, joining Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Satou Sabally as the only rookies since 2020 to achieve this feat. Iriafen is just the 20th rookie in WNBA history to post a streak of at least three consecutive double-doubles in her debut season.

That’s rookie bravado with graduate-level poise. And the Mystics fed off it. Sydney Johnson said the defense “was consistent for 40 minutes,” and Kiki gave credit to the vets keeping her locked in:

 

“I’m here for a reason… I’m capable of playing against the best of the best.”

Meanwhile, Iriafen’s partner in crime Sonia Citron cashed four threes and made life hell for Chelsea Gray. Citron battled Chelsea Gray on-ball all night.

 

“She’s an amazing player,” Citron said of Gray. “There’s really no shutting her down… I just try my best in making things difficult. Just working my butt off.”

Sonia Citron, meanwhile, made Vegas work for every inch.

Offensively, Citron was even nastier. Stepbacks, deep balls, calm finishes in the paint. The former Notre Dame star is already playing like she belongs.

“Our chemistry is growing,” she said of her connection with Kiki. “But I think it can look even better.”

THE ACES GOT A WARNING SHOT

The Aces at the end of the day are still the Aces.

Jackie Young was a demon down the stretch—25 points, 9-of-10 at the line, two straight buckets to slice the lead before tying it up with 11.1 seconds left. Then came the dagger: A’ja fed Jewell in the corner. Bang. Ballgame.

But Vegas knows they got pushed.

 

“It’s only going to get tougher as teams learn their identity,” Kiki said. “The next time we play the Aces, we’ll be better.”

Washington ran with three rookies in the rotation. Citron. Iriafen and Lucy Olsen.

Zero fear.

Next time, it might not come down to a buzzer-beater.