It's no secret that the Washington Mystics are largely considered to have won the WNBA Draft — the team pulled in Kiki Iriafen, Sonia Citron, and Georgia Amoore this year. Though Amoore is out with an ACL injury she suffered before the season began, Iriafen and Citron have offered a masterclass in rookie preparation. Both athletes are playing as if they've been in the league for years, and they've each put up numbers that are drawing comparisons to 3-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson.
The Mystics lost to the Indiana Fever 85-76 on Tuesday, but that wasn't due to lack of effort from the USC and Notre Dream graduates. Despite that loss, Iriafen and Citron each became the first rookies since Wilson to begin their career with double-figure scoring in 8 consecutive games — a huge feat for athletes who were playing at the collegiate level two months ago.
Here's a look at how each rookie is performing so far in terms of points per game:
ATL | CONN | GS | LV | PHX | IND | NY | IND | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Citron | 19 | 15 | 10 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 13 |
Iriafen | 14 | 17 | 10 | 17 | 11 | 16 | 12 | 20 |
Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron are ROY threats
If Iriafen and Citron continue to perform like this — and there is is no indication either is slowing down anytime soon — they will both be major contenders for Rookie of the Year. Last year Caitlin Clark won the award with nearly every vote (Angel Reese received one vote from the panel, who remain anonymous unless they voluntarily declare their vote). This years contest is already significantly less clear-cut than last year's; Clark was already a clear favorite at the beginning of the 2024 season.
Both athletes have been putting in incredible work since the preseason. Citron only needed one game — the Mystics' match against the Dream in mid-May — to make her presence known after she put up 19 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 23 minutes of play, and Iriafen was averaging 13.9 points, with a field goal percentage of 47.4 percent, and 10.1 rebounds before last night's game in Indianapolis.
Ahead of the game against the Fever, the Mystics also announced Citron is the first rookie to score 100 points this season (and noted that there are still more games to play than not, so Citron's potential is sky-high).
Citron and Iriafen are giving Mystics fans a lot to look forward to during this season and beyond, and once Amoore is healthy and back on the floor the true vision of this year's draft will be fully realized for a team that is proving they can't be counted out (ever).