2009 Washington Mystics season explained

The 2009 WNBA season is the 12th season for the Washington Mystics franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Mystics reached the playoffs for the first time in three years. They lost to the Indiana Fever in the first round in a sweep.

Offseason

Dispersal Draft

Based on the Mystics' 2008 record, they would pick 2nd in the Houston Comets dispersal draft. The Mystics picked Matee Ajavon.

WNBA draft

The following are the Mystics' selections in the 2009 WNBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	2	Marissa Coleman		Maryland
2	23 (from Conn., via Minn.)	Camille LeNoir		Southern California
2	24 (from Det.)	Jelena Milovanovic	Serbia	Serbia
3	28	Josephine Owino		Union

^[1]

Transactions

June 16: The Mystics signed Kristen Mann and waived Josephine Owino.
June 5: The Mystics waived Bernice Mosby.
June 4: The Mystics waived Kristen Mann and Kelly Schumacher.
June 2: The Mystics waived Eshaya Murphy.
June 1: The Mystics waived Kiesha Brown.
May 11: The Mystics signed Kelly Schumacher waived Coco Miller.
May 1: The Mystics signed Kiesha Brown and waived Crystal Smith and Camille LeNoir.
April 15: The Mystics waived Laurie Koehn, Krystal Vaughn, and Andrea Gardner.
February 9: The Mystics signed free agent Chasity Melvin and waived Miriam Sy and Zane Teilane.
February 6: The Mystics signed Andrea Gardner, Laurie Koehn and Crystal Smith to training camp contracts.
January 30: The Mystics acquired Lindsey Harding, the 23rd pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft, and the second-round pick in the 2010 Draft from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for the 9th and the 15th picks in the 2009 WNBA Draft.
January 20: The Mystics claimed Kristen Mann off waivers.
September 14, 2008: The Mystics signed Coco Miller to a two-year extension.
August 12, 2008: The Mystics received a second-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft (24th overall) from the Detroit Shock as part of the Taj McWilliams-Franklin/Tasha Humphrey transaction.

^[2]

Date	Trade
August 12, 2008	width=400	To Washington Mystics	width=400	To Detroit Shock
August 12, 2008	24th pick in 2009 Draft, Tasha Humphrey, Eshaya Murphy	Taj McWilliams-Franklin
January 30, 2009	width=400	To Washington Mystics	width=400	To Minnesota Lynx
January 30, 2009	Lindsey Harding, 23rd pick in 2009 Draft, second-round pick in 2010 Draft	9th and 15th picks in 2009 Draft

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Matee Ajavon	December 8, 2008	Houston Comets
Lindsey Harding	January 30, 2009	Minnesota Lynx
Chasity Melvin	February 9, 2009	Chicago Sky
Kristen Mann	June 16, 2009	Washington Mystics

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team
Andrea Gardner	April 15, 2009	free agent
Laurie Koehn	April 15, 2009	Phoenix Mercury
Krystal Vaughn	April 15, 2009	free agent
Crystal Smith	May 1, 2009	free agent
Camille LeNoir	May 1, 2009	free agent
Coco Miller	May 11, 2009	Atlanta Dream
Bernice Mosby	June 5, 2009	free agent
Josephine Owino	June 16, 2009	free agent

Schedule

Preseason

|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 1 || May 21 || 11:00am || @ New York || 71-77 || Sanford (17) || Sanford (8) || Currie (2) || Madison Square Garden
15,958 || 0-1|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 2 || May 28 || 11:30am || New York || 74-56 || Ajavon (17) || Coleman, Langhorne (6) || Ajavon (3) || Verizon Center
9,287 || 1-1|-

Regular season

|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 1 || June 6 || 4:00pm || @ Connecticut || || 82-70 || Coleman (16) || Sanford, Langhorne (7) || Harding (7) || Mohegan Sun Arena
7,191 || 1-0|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 2 || June 7 || 4:00pm || Atlanta || || 77-71 || Beard (27) || Langhorne (8) || Harding (7) || Verizon Center
11,759 || 2-0|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 3 || June 10 || 7:30pm || @ Detroit || || 75-69 || Beard (15) || Melvin (9) || Harding (5) || Palace of Auburn Hills
7,329 || 3-0|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 4 || June 19 || 7:30pm || @ Atlanta || || 81-93 || Beard (20) || Langhorne (10) || Currie, Harding (7) || Philips Arena
6,050 || 3-1|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 6 || June 20 || 7:00pm || Chicago || || 81-72 || Beard (31) || Melvin (9) || Beard (5) || Verizon Center
11,745 || 4-1|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 6 || June 25 || 7:00pm || Phoenix || || 87-93 || Beard (21) || Langhorne (12) || Harding (9) || Verizon Center
9,808 || 4-2|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 7 || June 27 || 8:00pm || @ Chicago || || 63-68 || Harding (15) || Melvin (9) || Harding (6) || UIC Pavilion
3,918 || 4-3|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 8 || June 30 || 8:00pm || @ San Antonio || || 84-82 || Beard, Harding (19) || Currie (8) || Harding (5) || AT&T Center
4,723 || 5-3|-|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 9 || July 3 || 7:30pm || @ Atlanta || || 65-72 || Beard (16) || Melvin (9) || Harding (4) || Philips Arena
5,456 || 5-4|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 10 || July 7 || 8:30pm || @ Minnesota || || 94-96 (OT) || Harding (27) || Currie (11) || Currie (4) || Target Center
7,171 || 5-5|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 11 || July 11 || 7:00pm || Los Angeles || || 75-63 || Beard (26) || Langhorne (11) || Harding (5) || Verizon Center
12,217 || 6-5|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 12 || July 15 || 11:30am || San Antonio || || 78-79 || Harding (18) || Beard, Langhorne (6) || Harding (4) || Verizon Center
17,220 || 6-6|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 13 || July 18 || 7:00pm || New York || || 68-67 || Harding (23) || Harding (7) || Harding (5) || Verizon Center
9,968 || 7-6|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 14 || July 21 || 7:00pm || Indiana || || 70-82 || Harding (17) || Beard (9) || Harding (6) || Verizon Center
9,798 || 7-7|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 15 || July 23 || 7:00pm || Chicago || ESPN2 || 75-64 || Langhorne (16) || Langhorne (10) || Harding (6) || Verizon Center
11,651 || 8-7|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 16 || July 26 || 4:00pm|| Sacramento || || 87-73 || Langhorne (19) || Langhorne (8) || Beard (5) || Verizon Center
10,757 || 9-7|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 17 || July 28 || 7:00pm || @ Indiana || || 85-81 || Beard (19) || Langhorne (8) || Harding, Melvin (4) || Conseco Fieldhouse
5,904 || 9-8|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 18 || July 30 || 7:30pm || @ New York || NBA TV
MSG || 78-75 || Beard (28) || Langhorne (11) || Harding (4) || Madison Square Garden
10,172 || 10-8|-|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 19 || August 2 || 4:00pm || Indiana || || 79-87 || Beard (23) || Currie (7) || Currie, Harding (4) || Verizon Center
11,595 || 10-9|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 20 || August 7 || 7:00pm || Detroit || || 70-66 || Beard (15) || Langhorne (9) || Harding (4) || Verizon Center
10,637 || 11-9|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 21 || August 9 || 3:00pm || @ Connecticut || || 67-96 || Beard (18) || Beard, Harding (7) || Beard (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena
6,528 || 11-10|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 22 || August 11 || 7:00pm || Detroit || || 77-81 || Beard (17) || Sanford (6) || Harding (8) || Verizon Center
10,398 || 11-11|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 23 || August 14 || 7:00pm || Connecticut || || 91-89 (2OT) || Beard (26) || Langhorne (16) || Harding (4) || Verizon Center
9,738 || 12-11|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 24 || August 16 || 4:00pm || New York || || 59-60 || Beard (18) || Langhorne (8) || Harding (7) || Verizon Center
10,580 || 12-12|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 25 || August 18 || 10:30pm || @ Los Angeles || || 69-72 || Ajavon (20) || Harding, Langhorne (6) || Ajavon (4) || STAPLES Center
9,287 || 12-13|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 26 || August 21 || 10:00pm || @ Phoenix || || 91-81 || Langhorne (19) || Langhorne (12) || Harding (6) || US Airways Center
9,155 || 13-13|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 27 || August 22 || 10:00pm || @ Sacramento || || 60-82 || Langhorne (16) || Langhorne (10) || Harding (3) || ARCO Arena
7,067 || 13-14|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 28 || August 25 || 10:00pm || @ Seattle || || 68-78 || Coleman, Currie (13) || Currie (6) || Ajavon (3) || KeyArena
6,791 || 13-15|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 29 || August 30 || 4:00pm || Minnesota || || 81-75 || Langhorne (18) || Langhorne (10) || Hardin (5) || Verizon Center
12,241 || 14-15|-|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 30 || September 3 || 7:00pm || Seattle || || 78-67 || Currie (17) || Langhorne (11) || Harding (5) || Verizon Center
10,648 || 15-15|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 31 || September 4 || 8:30pm || @ Chicago || || 86-92 || Ajavon (32) || Langhorne (10) || Harding (5) || UIC Pavilion
3,241 || 15-16|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 32 || September 6 || 4:00pm || @ Indiana || || 61-72 || Langhorne (13) || Sanford (10) || Sanford (3) || Conseco Fieldhouse
9,702 || 15-17|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 33 || September 12 || 7:00pm || Atlanta || || 82-64 || Harding (25) || Langhorne (8) || Currie (5) || Verizon Center
11,987 || 16-17|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 34 || September 13 || 4:00pm || @ New York || MSG || 65-86 || Currie (17) || Ajavon (9) || Currie (5) || Madison Square Garden
15,667 || 16-18|-| All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess

Postseason

|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 1 || September 17 || 7:00pm || Indiana || ESPN2 || 79-88 || Langhorne (18) || Langhorne (10) || Melvin (4) || Comcast Center
6,332 || 0-1|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 2 || September 19 || 7:00pm || @ Indiana || NBA TV || 74-81 (OT) || Langhorne (15) || Currie (14) || Harding (5) || Conseco Fieldhouse
9,655 || 0-2|-

Regular Season Statistics

Player statistics

GP	GS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
34	4	17.3	1.9	1.1	1.09	0.12	6.0
31	30	31.8	4.0	2.2	2.32	0.58	15.9
16	0	5.7	0.6	0.8	0.44	0.00	1.5
28	0	18.8	2.7	0.8	0.71	0.32	6.1
34	34	21.4	4.3	1.8	0.85	0.41	8.2
34	34	35.1	4.0	4.5	1.26	0.38	12.8
9	0	7.4	1.4	0.3	0.10	0.30	2.2
34	22	29.8	7.9	0.9	1.00	0.38	12.0
16	0	5.9	0.9	0.4	0.19	0.00	1.6
34	33	22.2	4.6	1.1	1.00	0.85	5.9
24	0	7.0	1.5	0.1	0.33	0.04	1.9
0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.00	0.00	0.0
34	13	19.5	4.3	0.6	0.76	0.41	6.3

Team statistics

Team	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
Washington Mystics	.423	.326	.701	35.0	13.3	9.2	3.5	17.8	21.3	76.0
Opponents	.433	.339	.755	32.7	15.4	9.3	4.6	16.9	22.9	77.1

Awards and honors

Alana Beard was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of June 22, 2009.
Alana Beard was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 6, 2009.
Alana Beard was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as an Eastern Conference starter.
Crystal Langhorne was named the Most Improved Player.
Alana Beard was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.

Notes and References

Web site: WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Draft Board . https://web.archive.org/web/20090825071441/http://www.wnba.com/draft2009/draft_board.html . 2009-08-25 . dead . 2009-09-04 .
http://www.wnba.com/transactions/WNBA_2009.html WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Transactions