Three of the top four picks in the 2025 WNBA Draft will compete in the primetime Monday night WNBA matchup in Arlington, TX, with the Washington Mystics’ Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, the No. 3 and No. 4 picks last year, taking on No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings at 8 p.m. ET (NBCSN/Peacock).
While the play of their respective teams has been a bit chaotic—with the Mystics falling down by 13 points early against the Indiana Fever on Friday night before going up by 14 points and later
losing the lead only to escape in overtime, while the Wings coughed up a 12-point home advantage over the Minnesota Lynx last Thursday—the trio of sophomores have exhibited no signs of an incoming second-year slump.
Here’s a quick overview of what the three have achieved so far, and what we might see from the three on Monday night.
Sonia Citron is showing how high her ceiling could be
Is it time to add Citron to the list of Most Improved Player candidates?
No-sleeves Soni has increased her scoring by almost 10 points per game (14.9 to 24.3), a leap in production she’s achieving without her 3-pointer. Citron’s 3-ball, the surest thing about her game, is thus far not falling, as she’s hitting just 25 percent of her 5.3 3-pointers per game.
Her growth, more encouragingly, is coming from the areas of her game thought to be shakier. After earning 3.4 free throw attempts per game last year, she’s getting to the line nearly eight times a game. Her 2-point finishing is also an off-the-charts 86.4 percent. Those numbers are likely to level off, but they’re at least reflective of Citron’s more aggressive, confident offensive mindset.
The win Indy exemplified how Citron is pushing the extent of her offensive package, as she scored a career-high 30 points, propelled by the most field goals (10) and free throws (nine) that she has made in a single game in her career. Her six boards also indicate she’s not slacking off in other areas, despite assuming a larger offense role.
Kiki Iriafen is proving impervious to opponents’ best efforts
Iriafen, like Citron, established a new scoring high in the win over Indiana, netting 25 points. In the Mystics’ opener, she pulled down a career-best 16 boards.
Overall, Kiki’s scoring has perked up by almost six points per game (13.3 to 19.0), boosted by a nearly 10 percentage point improvement in her scoring from the floor. With at least 12 rebounds in every game, she’s been an automatic double-double.
As a singular interior force, Iriafen is a lot to handle for any opposing frontcourt; when paired with Shakira Austin, with whom she is developing nice big-to-big chemistry, Kiki can really overwhelm, with foul trouble being the only thing stopping her so far.
Paige Bueckers’ brilliance shines through early-season turbulence
The scrutiny that tends to come with increased expectations has been digging into Dallas to start the 2026 season, leading to sense of disappointment for the still-young team with lots of new faces.
But in that glare, Bueckers’ greatness has hardly dimmed. She is scoring more (19.2 to 20.7 points per game), and more efficiently (47.7 to 57.1 field goal percentage), than her Rookie of the Year campaingn, even with lower usage. That last state—that’s there not more Paige—is, in fact, the only critique.
Head coach Jose Fernandez called out player selfishness after Dallas’ collapse against the Lynx. However, as UConn head coach Geno Auriemma expressed on multiple occasions during Bueckers’ Husky tenure, an unselfish Paige is often a selfish Paige.
While her offensive instinct is to involve other and pick her spots, Bueckers usually benefits her teammates more when she calls her own number and presses the offensive gas. A Bueckers looking for buckets forces the defense to adapt, opening up easier opportunities for her teammates.
That consistently cutthroat killer mentality, which certainly shines through at times, might be what the Wings need from Bueckers to survive this early-season turbulence.
Will the stage belong to Sonia, Kiki or Paige?
Who do you think will emerge as the second-year star on Monday night? Or, will a non-sophomore instead steal the spotlight? Could this be the breakout game for rookies Lauren Betts or Azzi Fudd?
I expect all three of Sonia, Kiki and Paige to have their moments in a back-and-forth game. So far, both teams have exhibited the in-game consistency reflective of their youth, inexperience and lack of cohesion. I’ll even predict an overtime finish. That would be a third overtime game for DC and the first for Dallas after a couple of near-overtime affairs.
Last season, the first game between these two teams went to OT, with Washington winning 91-88. Citron scored her previous career-high of 27 points, powered by four 3-pointers, with Iriafen and Austin combining for 40 points. Dallas was led by Arike Ogubowale’s 27 points, plus 20 points from Bueckers.
In the second game, a mismatched Dallas mash unit managed to win 79-71 over Washington. The Mystics took the rubber match rather comfortably, winning 91-78 behind 23 points and 10 boards from Iriafen.
Could Fire vs. Sun bring more heat?
Also on Monday night, the Connecticut Sun will visit the Portland Fire for the first and only time (10 p.m. ET, WNBA League Pass).
When the Fire were still around during their first WNBA stint, the Sun were the Orlando Miracle. The Miracle last played in Portland in June of 2002, a 64-57 Fire win. As this is the Sun’s only trip to Portland in 2026, they’ll be the Houston Comets next time the two teams meet in the Rose City.
And when that meeting happens, both teams probably hope that JuJu Watkins is on their roster. For now, the two future-focused franchises can still give fans a fun game, with two more sophomores situated to be at the center of the show.
On the Fire’s end, that fun (hopefully) begins with Carla Leite, who is questionable to play due to an ankle injury. The second-year guard is going to grind her way to buckets through means that belie her 5-foot-9 frame. An inefficient shooter from the field, she is Portland’s most positive player—with the Fire outscoring opponents by six points per game in her minutes—because of her prolific ability to get to the line, where she swishes 94.1 percent of her 8.5 freebies per game.
The Sun’s brightest spot continues to be Aneesah Morrow. As with Leite, the efficiency is still lacking, but the effort is not. She’s averaging a double-double of 14.5 points and 10.8 rebounds from off the bench, numbers that are nearly double her marks from her rookie season.
Who else will you be watching in this one? Can Morrow helped the Sun secure their first win? Will Leite and the Fire prevail for win No. 2?
Share your outlook for all of Monday night’s sophomore-centric action in the comments.
