The Washington Mystics reached Wednesday night with two rotation questions hanging over them, as Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin were both listed as questionable for the game against the Connecticut Sun. Iriafen was in line to return from a two-game absence because of a right ankle sprain, while Austin was facing the possibility of missing her first game of the season because of knee soreness.
That mattered because the Mystics entered at 5-7 and needed answers fast in a game that was part of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup. It also mattered because readers were looking for the status of Iriafen in particular, after she had already sat out two games and now stood as the clearest late-game availability check for Washington.
The final report left Washington with a more uncertain picture than Connecticut. Hailey Van Lith was ruled out with a left ankle contusion and was set to miss her third consecutive contest, but the Sun had only one player officially out. That left the Mystics carrying two questionable tags into a road game in Connecticut, while their opponent entered at 2-13 and trying to stop a five-game losing streak.
Washington’s own recent form added to the stakes. The Mystics were coming off a road loss to the New York Liberty on Sunday afternoon, when Michaela Onyenwere led the team with 17 points and four rebounds and Sonia Citron added 12 points and three rebounds. Connecticut, meanwhile, had lost at home to the Indiana Fever on Saturday night, when Leila Lacan posted 11 points, seven assists and four steals and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The injury report did not settle the key question, it sharpened it. Iriafen was close enough to a return to be listed as questionable, but not cleared; Austin was close enough to being available for every game this season to be one report away from a possible first absence. That is where the matchup stood at 7:00 p.m. ET in Connecticut: one team waiting on two players, the other already down one, with the game itself about to decide whether Washington could get both back or have to make do without them.
