The WNBA has the best women’s basketball talent in the world. Every team’s supporting cast is full of players who have proven themselves somewhere at some time.
However, one supporting cast deserves some extra attention: that of the Washington Mystics.
Overlook the Mystics in the playoffs at your own peril. Not only do they have some of the best chemistry and vibes, but also some real talent up and down their roster.
Outside of their Big 3 of Shakira Austin, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, these are
the five most important Mystics, as any one of these five could be the team’s X factor on any given night.
In the comments, let us know if you think this supporting cast is good enough to help the Mystics get out of the first round and into the semifinals. Or, is there another Mystic you could see emerging as a playoff difference maker?
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton
Yes, I’m putting Laney-Hamilton first despite her points (4.7) and minutes (16.2) per game being the lowest of the five. The Mystics picked her up off waivers to be a veteran presence for their upcoming playoff run, but they also got a very talented player.
Aside from Citron and Iriafen, Laney-Hamilton is the only other former All-Star on Washington’s roster. Her selection to the All-Star Game came back in 2021, but at age 32 she’s still young enough to be as good as she was back then.
Actually, 2021 was the last time she was both fully healthy and on a team that required her to be a star. She played just nine games in 2022, the last season before her New York Liberty’s addition of Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones led to her sacrificing her offense. After she missed all of 2025, that sacrifice turned into being completely left off the court by new Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco, as she last played in a game for the Liberty on July 12.
True, the Mystics aren’t going to ask her to be a star or give her more touches than their Big 3. But her lack of a second All-Star bid has nothing to do with an age-related drop-off.
At 32, she’s DC’s oldest player by about six years; Michaela Onyenwere recently turned 27 and BLH turns 33 on Oct. 29. So far, BLH has provided the veteran guidance that was expected. And while the Mystics are excited to have her, she’s just as excited to be playing a legit role—getting some real playing time and embracing being a leader.
As far as the box score, she hasn’t cracked double figures in scoring yet, but her seven assists last Thursday demonstrated that she’s going to be a willing passer and maybe that’s exactly what the Mystics need from her. She’s also got a lot in her bag as a scorer, if the need ever arises.
Michaela Onyenwere
When I wrote about Onyenwere earlier this season, she was averaging a career-high 10.1 points per game, highlighted by a 30-piece on 6-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
I said she was on the brink of becoming a star.
Her scoring average has since dipped to 8.9 points per game, which matches what she averaged for the Phoenix Mercury in 2023. She was, of course, the 2021 Rookie of the Year, averaging 8.6 points per game that season. I assumed she would eventually put up much higher averages after a promising rookie start, but it appears her ascension to star status is on hold.
More importantly, though, she is playing winning basketball and greatly contributing to the first winning season of any WNBA team she’s been on. (And according to her younger teammates, she is a favorite of head coach Sydney Johnson, who repeatedly insists that everyone, “Be like Mic!”)
As I wrote in July, it’s clear that she’s enjoying herself, as well as making the experience more enjoyable for her teammates. Before Laney-Hamilton arrived, she was the team vet, and even a former coach of the team’s two UCLA rookies in Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalić. She’s filled the leadership role well.
She’s also still got that star potential.
While her scoring average is down to single digits, her 3-point percentage is still a career-high at 40 percent, which is tied for ninth in the W. She’s the fourth-highest scorer on the Mystics and is playing the fourth-most minutes per game at 25.2 per night. BLH may have a better history of putting up high scoring averages than Onyenwere, but Onyenwere is who Johnson trusts to be in the starting lineup and playing major minutes, because that’s the way it’s been all season.
So even if she’s not having breakout 30-point games, expect Onyenwere’s fingerprints to be all over Washington’s upcoming playoff run.
Georgia Amoore
Amoore made a name for herself playing alongside Elizabeth Kitley on the 2023 Virginia Tech team that went to the Final Four. Two years later, she followed head coach Kenny Brooks to Kentucky and was a Second Team All-American, putting up stellar averages of 19.6 points and 6.9 assists. She was a 35.6 percent 3-point shooter in college with 408 makes in five years (2.6 per game).
She was selected by the Mystics with the No. 6 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, saying at the time that it was all too fitting that she was joining forces with No. 3 and No. 4 picks Citron and Iriafen, given how the three had gravitated toward one another amid pre-draft socializing.
There were questions about her height (5-foot-6), but fans were still excited to see if the Wizard of Aus’ incredible college accomplishments could translate to the W. Unfortunately, Amoore suffered an ACL tear in training camp, forcing her to miss the 2025 season.
In her rookie season of 2026, she didn’t immediately wow, but her 25 points on 6-for-11 from downtown last Thursday was an arrival of sorts.
As a Mystics fan, I’ve been wanting her to shoot her way out of her 3-point slump, and it appears that she has. She shouldn’t lose confidence in her stroke, especially since the Mystics need more elite 3-point shooting and she’s someone who can provide it.
Amoore and Betts are the only Mystics who have played in every game this season, with Amoore being the only one to start every contest. Amoore’s per-game season averages stand at 6.6 points (fifth on the Mystics), 3.5 assists (second) and 23 minutes (fifth).
She’s quietly been a constant, and if her college career is any indication, big things are ahead.
Lauren Betts
The same goes for Betts. She was a superstar at the collegiate level, making the All-America First Team twice at UCLA.
Before her senior year began, she was projected to go No. 1 in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Azzi Fudd and Olivia Miles surpassed her in mock drafts as the season went on, and they both ended up going ahead of her, as did Awa Fam out of Spain. The Mystics took Betts, a center, at No. 4 despite having just paid the money needed to keep restricted free agent Austin in a crowded frontcourt. Taking Betts was seen as a best-player-available pick.
Yet, instead of seeming too crowded to keep everyone happy, the Mystics’ frontcourt has been formidable, striking fear into the rest of the league.
Betts is averaging the third-most rebounds on the team at 4.4 per game in just 17.1 minutes, contributing to Washington’s offensive and defensive rebounding percentages, which are first and second in the league, respectively. Betts is sixth on the Mystics with 6.4 points per game. She hasn’t been put in a position where she’s been able to test herself as one of her team’s go-to players. Instead, she’s on a team that is winning and hoping to make noise in the playoffs.
Her 18 points in 21 minutes on 8-for-9 shooting on June 12 shows that, like the rest of the players on this list, she’s just lying in wait.
Cotie McMahon
McMahon has been straight-up fearless in terms of taking the ball right at defenders as she speeds her way to the basket in transition. I applaud her aggressiveness and willingness to not shy away from scoring despite her being a rookie.
I think the Mystics are also mostly happy with the aggressiveness. They need to use McMahon as a weapon in transition. While her attacking sometimes leads to a charge, the team should continue to encourage her approach, as it puts so much pressure on the opposing defense. Plus, she will get better and better at controlling her body and finishing at the rim as her career goes on.
Another area Washington needs to explore with McMahon is her 3-point shooting. As our Beckett Harrison has talked about, the Mystics didn’t address their need for more 3-point shooters this past offseason, making it important for some borderline-good shooters to improve. McMahon had one good season from distance in college, shooting 37.4 percent with 34 makes as a junior at Ohio State. Her current 28.6 percent clip matches what she shot as a senior at Ole Miss. We’ll see how much she can improve.
McMahon’s impact continues to be key for Washington. Her 6.3 points per game average ranks seventh on the team, while she’s playing the most minutes per game (19.7) out of any of the Mystics drafted in 2026.
