The rebounding number told the whole story
Washington pulled down 43 rebounds. Toronto pulled down 27. Everything else that happened overnight followed from that gap, and the Mystics beat the Tempo 93-82 for an eighth straight home win.
Kiki Iriafen finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, her 15th double-double of the season. Shakira Austin added 11 points and 10 boards for her 16th. Two bigs, two double-doubles, and a visiting team that never got a second chance at anything.
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Onyenwere from deep, Citron running it
Michaela Onyenwere scored 14 off four three-pointers. Sonia Citron handled the rest with 13 points and six assists, the kind of line that does not lead a box score but keeps an offense from stalling when the shots stop falling.
Toronto arrived short-handed and still made Washington work for stretches. Kiki Rice led the Tempo with 19 points. Aneesah Morrow put up 13 points and eight rebounds. Those two carried most of the scoring load, and there was not much behind them.
Twelve in a row, and the season is over
The loss was Toronto’s 12th straight. It also ended the Tempo’s playoff hopes, closing out the competitive part of a first WNBA season that began with far more promise than the streak suggests.
Washington sits on eight consecutive wins at home, a run built on interior work rather than volume shooting. Austin and Iriafen have now combined for 31 double-doubles between them this season, and on nights like this one the Mystics do not need a guard to go for 25 to win comfortably.
Toronto plays on with nothing left to chase. Washington has a playoff seed to protect.
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