Mystics’ Sonia Citron logs 26-point double-double vs. Sun amid case for 2nd All-Star bid

Although the Washington Mystics don’t have much experience, they make up for it with depth. They showed that during their 88-81 road victory over the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday, as they were without forward Kiki Iriafen (ankle) and center Shakira Austin (knee), who are their second and third-leading scorers, respectively.

Their leading scorer is second-year guard Sonia Citron, who tallied 26 points (7-13 FG, 0-4 3-point) with a career-high 12 rebounds, four assists and one block over 38 minutes. The 2025 All-Star led all players in points and rebounds while also tying for the lead in assists.

Sonia Citron tonight

• 26 points
• 12 rebounds (!!!)
• 4 assists
• 7/13 FG pic.twitter.com/wCAJDuiLQj

— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) June 18, 2026

Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson leaned heavily on Citron, as her 38 minutes led all players. He only used three bench players, while Connecticut used seven. The Sun won the bench scoring battle 42-11 as a result, but it didn’t matter.

Citron’s growing pains have been evident at times this season, as she’s not always aggressive offensively. For example, the 22-year-old has taken fewer than 10 shots in four of her 12 games thus far despite being the primary option, but she’s also had performances like Wednesday’s. This was her third game with 26-plus points and her fourth with 10-plus free throws attempted, as she went 12-for-12 at the charity stripe.

Shorthanded teams sometimes need their primary option to carry them, and Citron answered the bell on Wednesday. The performance occured hours after the first fan returns for WNBA All-Star voting came out, and the 2025 All-Rookie was ranked 18th with 73,274 votes, per WNBA Communications. Iriafen was 15th with 88,931 votes.

There are 22 total All-Star roster spots available, voted on by a mix of fans, players, media and head coaches. Starters are voted on by fans, players, and media, while reserves are picked by coaches, per the league’s website.

Citron and Iriafen are both on pace to be All-Star reserves for the second straight year, which would be another feather in Washington’s cap after drafting them third and fourth overall in 2025, respectively. That duo mixed with Austin and forward Michaela Onyenwere are largely why the Mystics are just a half-game out of a playoff spot at 6-7 despite being the youngest team in league history. The latter player logged 22 points (8-12 FG, 4-4 3-point) with three rebounds and one steal over 32 minutes on Wednesday.

Breanna Stewart reveals key challenges Sonia Citron must navigate with Mystics

Although Connecticut is the WNBA’s worst team at 2-14, Wednesday’s game was still a useful bounce-back outing for Washington after losing 86-64 to the New York Liberty on Sunday. The Mystics were without Iriafen, while the Liberty had all of their All-Stars in forward Breanna Stewart, center Jonquel Jones, forward Satou Sabally and guard Sabrina Ionescu.

This was one of Citron’s aforementioned quiet games, as she scored 12 points (3-9 FG, 1-5 3-point) with three rebounds and two assists across 31 minutes. Stewart told ClutchPoints how she evaluates Citron’s development thus far postgame.

I asked Breanna Stewart how she’s seen Sonia Citron grow since last year:

“I think Soni is continuing to understand her spots, her awareness. I’m sure that on a team like DC she’s getting different coverages every single night and learning how to read those and differentiate… pic.twitter.com/TXhq2HN695

— Joshua Valdez (@joshvaldez100) June 14, 2026

“I think Soni is continuing to understand her spots, her awareness. I’m sure that on a team like DC she’s getting different coverages every single night and learning how to read those and differentiate them,” the 31-year-old said. “Also being a young leader on the team…Hopefully we made it a little tougher for her tonight, because she’s capable of going off at any moment.”

Citron proved that last point both on Wednesday and during Friday’s 86-85 win over the Toronto Tempo, when she hit a turnaround midrange shot to win the game at the buzzer directly after a jump ball. Up-and-down production is common for young players, but the New York native continues to flash All-WNBA potential.

Citron and company will have the chance to get revenge against the Liberty in another road matchup this coming Friday that tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ION.

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