2016 Washington Mystics season
WNBA team season
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The 2016 WNBA season was the 19th season for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began at home versus the Washington Mystics on May 14, 2016.[1] The Mystics would go on to lose their opening game 76–87. Their losing streak extended to three games before the Mystics got their first win of the season on May 21, 2016, 84–76, over the Connecticut Sun. They continued their winning ways with a 84–82 overtime victory in Seattle. They lost their final game of the season to finish May 2–4. The Mystics then lost back-to-back games against the Chicago Sky to open June. Their fortunes improved after that as they went 5–1 in their next six games. Their only loss came against the Minnesota Lynx. They won a triple overtime game against Connecticut over that stretch, and also defeated Atlanta twice. The streak was broken with a 91–79 loss to Phoenix. The Mystics won their next two games to close out June with a 7–4 record. The two game winning streak was not extended as they opened July with an overtime loss in Chicago. Their season took a turn for the worse from there as they lost their next six straight games. They lost to San Antonio, New York, and Phoenix by single digits, but lose their other three games by double digits. The worst loss of the stretch was a twenty-nine point loss at Seattle. The Mystics went into the Olympic break with a 9–15 overall record. They played two games in August after the Olympic break where they defeated Indiana and lost to San Antonio. They won two out of their first three games in September, defeating Dallas and Chicago. They had an outside chance of qualifying for the playoffs, but ended September on a 1–4 stretch. Their only win came against New York while they lost to Seattle, Indiana, Atlanta, and Connecticut.
| 2016 Washington Mystics season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Mike Thibault |
| Arena | Verizon Center |
| Results | |
| Record | 13–21 (.382) |
| Place | 6th (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | Did Not Qualify |
The Mystics finished the season 13–21 and only mustered four wins after June 29. They finished sixth in the Eastern Conference and did not qualify for the playoffs. Their thirteen wins were their worst since the 2012 season.
Transactions
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Kahleah Copper |  United States |
Rutgers |
| 2 | 19 | Lia Galdeira | Washington State | |
| 3 | 31 | Danaejah Grant | St. John's |
Trades/Roster Changes
| Date | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| February 3, 2016 | Signed F LaToya Sanders[2] | |
| March 8, 2016 | Extended Emma Meesseman[3] | |
Roster
| 2016 Washington Mystics roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Game log
Preseason
| 2016 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0)
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| 2016 pre-season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
| 2016 game log Total: 13–21 (Home: 5–12; Road: 8–9) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 2–4 (Home: 0–3; Road: 2–1)
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June
: 7–4 (Home: 4–3; Road: 3–1)
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July
: 0–7 (Home: 0–2; Road: 0–5)
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August
: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0)
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September
: 3–5 (Home: 1–3; Road: 2–2)
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| 2016 season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standings
| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 - New York Liberty | 21 | 13 | .618 | — | 10–7 | 11–6 | 11–5 |
| 4 - Chicago Sky | 18 | 16 | .529 | 3 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 8–8 |
| 5 - Indiana Fever | 17 | 17 | .500 | 4 | 8–9 | 9–8 | 8–8 |
| 6 - Atlanta Dream | 17 | 17 | .500 | 4 | 11–6 | 6–11 | 9–7 |
| e - Connecticut Sun | 14 | 20 | .412 | 7 | 8–9 | 6–11 | 4–12 |
| e - Washington Mystics | 13 | 21 | .382 | 8 | 5–12 | 8–9 | 8–8 |
Statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
| PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader | ||||
Regular season
Source:[4]
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tayler Hill | 32 | 32 | 29.3 | 34.8% | 35.1% | 82.9% | 2.6 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 15.4 |
| Emma Meesseman | 34 | 34 | 29.3 | 53.3% | 44.8% | 80.0% | 5.6 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 15.2 |
| Tierra Ruffin-Pratt | 32 | 31 | 24.4 | 36.9% | 32.0% | 74.7% | 4.5 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 7.3 |
| Natasha Cloud | 31 | 28 | 24.3 | 34.8% | 33.8% | 75.4% | 3.0 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 5.7 |
| Stefanie Dolson | 34 | 31 | 22.5 | 48.2% | 30.0% | 84.3% | 4.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 9.3 |
| Ivory Latta | 22 | 2 | 20.8 | 33.1% | 30.5% | 90.9% | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 8.3 |
| Kia Vaughn | 34 | 4 | 19.8 | 50.3% | — | 75.0% | 4.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 6.3 |
| LaToya Sanders | 4 | 0 | 17.3 | 50.0% | — | 84.6% | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 7.3 |
| Bria Hartley | 24 | 5 | 16.9 | 37.6% | 36.2% | 80.0% | 2.0 | 2.3 | 0.4 | — | 6.5 |
| Kahleah Copper | 30 | 3 | 16.2 | 41.7% | 46.7% | 68.3% | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 6.2 |
| Leilani Mitchell | 10 | 0 | 16.1 | 43.5% | 35.5% | 80.0% | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.1 | — | 5.9 |
| Tianna Hawkins | 24 | 0 | 10.5 | 49.4% | 50.0% | 85.7% | 2.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 4.7 |
| Ally Malott | 23 | 0 | 7.8 | 30.6% | 31.3% | 81.8% | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.1 |
| Zoi Dimitrakou | 2 | 0 | 5.5 | 33.3% | 50.0% | — | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | — | 1.5 |
| Jamie Weisner | 7 | 0 | 3.6 | 44.% | 50.0% | 100.0% | 0.4 | 0.3 | — | — | 1.7 |
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award | Date Awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emma Meesseman | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 13 | [6] |