2002 Washington Mystics season

2002 Washington Mystics season
Coach	Marianne Stanley
Arena	MCI Center
Attendance	16,202 per game
Results
Record	17–15 (.531)
Place	3rd (East)
Playoff finish	Lost Conference Finals
← 2001 season 2003 season →

The 2002 WNBA season was the fifth for the Washington Mystics. This was the first time in franchise history (and, until 2017, the only) that the Mystics won a playoff series.

None of Washington's "big four" teams would accomplish the feat of reaching the semifinals in their respective leagues until the Washington Capitals won their first Stanley Cup, with the only trips to the semifinals between Capitals' Stanley Cups being this season and 2017 for the Mystics.

Offseason

WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
First round	3rd pick overall	Stacey Dales-Schuman		Canada
First round	4th pick overall	Asjha Jones	Forward	United States	University of Connecticut
Third Round	33rd pick overall	LaNisha Cartwell
Third Round	36th pick overall	Teresa Geter

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
New York Liberty x	18	14	.563	11–10	–
Charlotte Sting x	18	14	.563	12–9	–
Washington Mystics x	17	15	.531	12–9	1.0
Indiana Fever x	16	16	.500	12–9	2.0
Orlando Miracle o	16	16	.500	13–8	2.0
Miami Sol o	15	17	.469	11–10	3.0
Cleveland Rockers o	10	22	.312	7–14	8.0
Detroit Shock o	9	23	.281	6–15	9.0

Season schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
June 1	Orlando	93-82	Win	1-0
June 3	@ Phoenix	65-71	Loss	1-1
June 4	@ Utah	97-89	Win	2-1
June 7	Indiana	89-68	Win	3-1
June 9	Miami	76-67	Win	4-1
June 13	Houston	70-64	Win	5-1
June 14	@ Cleveland	69-63	Win	6-1
June 18	Detroit	75-67	Win	7-1
June 19	@ Charlotte	64-78	Loss	7-2
June 21	@ Miami	65-60	Win	8-2
June 23	Cleveland	63-45	Win	9-2
June 25	@ Sacramento	87-86 (OT)	Win	10-2
June 27	@ Los Angeles	69-73	Loss	10-3
June 28	@ Portland	66-72	Loss	10-4
June 30	Charlotte	56-55	Win	11-4
July 3	@ Minnesota	64-63	Win	12-4
July 6	@ Indiana	45-50	Loss	12-5
July 8	@ Orlando	63-51	Win	13-5
July 9	Phoenix	68-54	Win	14-5
July 13	New York	53-67	Loss	14-6
July 18	Detroit	63-59	Win	15-6
July 20	Utah	73-83	Loss	15-7
July 25	@ Detroit	58-64	Loss	15-8
July 27	Seattle	71-80	Loss	15-9
July 30	Orlando	55-70	Loss	15-10
August 2	Portland	65-67	Loss	15-11
August 4	@ Miami	50-55	Loss	15-12
August 6	Indiana	55-64	Loss	15-13
August 8	@ New York	65-54	Win	16-13
August 9	New York	66-74	Loss	16-14
August 11	@ Cleveland	60-54	Win	17-14
August 13	@ Charlotte	57-67	Loss	17-15
August 15 (first round, G1)	Charlotte	74-62	Win	1-0
August 17 (first round, G2)	@ Charlotte	62-59	Win	2-0
August 22 (East Finals, G1)	New York	79-74	Win	3-0
August 24 (East Finals, G2)	@ New York	79-96	Loss	3-1
August 25 (East Finals, G3)	@ New York	57-64	Loss	3-2

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Playoffs

• Won WNBA Eastern Conference Semifinals (2-0) over Charlotte Sting
• Lost WNBA Eastern Conference Finals (2-1) to New York Liberty

Awards and honors

• Coco Miller, WNBA Most Improved Player Award
• Chamique Holdsclaw, WNBA Peak Performer
• Marianne Stanley, WNBA Coach of the Year Award

External links

• Washington Mystics on Basketball Reference