Why Shakira Austin’s breakout game stood out for more than her 28 points

“I was like, ‘Wow,’ just admiring her game,” Citron told reporters afterward about that play.

The layup gave Austin 23 points, one off her career high. But she wasn’t done. The fourth-year pro finished with 28 points on 13-for-17 shooting, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. It was her first double-double since August 2024 and her first 20-point, 10-rebound game since May 2023.

The IX Basketball, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom powered by The Next

The IX Basketball: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX Sports. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.

For Austin, May 2023 was practically a basketball lifetime ago. At that point, she hadn’t had any serious injuries, but the next month, she strained her hip. That began a two-season nightmare where she missed 49 games with hip and ankle injuries and appeared in only 31.

By the beginning of training camp this season, Austin finally felt healthy again, and she was ready to show everything in her skill set. At the Mystics’ preseason media day, she said three times in five sentences that she was “excited” to get back on the court.

Then the Mystics held Austin out of two preseason games and the season opener with a right leg issue. There was no moment Austin got injured, according to head coach Sydney Johnson; the team just wanted to make sure her body was 100% healthy and prepared.

Austin made her season debut on May 18, but she played less than eight minutes before being ejected for receiving two technical fouls. Then she suffered a concussion in the next game and missed two games, returning on May 28.

From there, the Mystics brought Austin along slowly, to her chagrin. She played under 15 minutes in her first three games back from the concussion and didn’t reach 25 minutes until Tuesday. After the game on May 28, Austin was asked about playing for Johnson, who is in his first year with the Mystics. With Johnson sitting beside her, she told reporters, “Well, I’m trying to get my minutes to get my coaching from him.” That made them both start laughing.

A week later, on June 5, Johnson told reporters that Austin was feeling good physically, but he was “not trying to overdo it” with her minutes as she built up her stamina.

On June 14, Johnson said Austin was ready for “more minutes out there than sitting alongside the coaches.” What he wanted to see most from her in those increased minutes was patience. “Let [the game] come to you and read the defense,” he explained. “And know that it will come to you. She’s a central pillar to what we’re trying to do here.”

In the days between then and Friday, there were signs that Austin’s breakout might be coming. She had 9 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 19 minutes against the Dream on Sunday. One of those blocks came against 6’9 center Brittney Griner, who playfully shoved the 6’5 Austin in response.

“She [is] probably not used to nobody blocking her shot like that,” Austin said afterward with a laugh. “… But BG, she’s a great player, a great vet, too, and she’s somebody who has always made little comments to just keep me positive and make sure I’m coming back and telling me the league needs me.

“So [I’m] glad I can get that block on her. She caught me in [the winter 3×3 league] Unrivaled, so I been hunting it.”

On Tuesday, Austin made her first start of the season and had a similar block against 6’7 Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso. She had 9 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, two assists and two steals in 27:28, which was a season high in minutes until Friday.

“I can just trust that we can throw it into her and good things are going to happen,” Johnson said after Tuesday’s game. “She’s finding the balance between scoring and facilitating, and that is just such a big jump. … It just gives me chills.”

Austin pointed to Tuesday’s game as the one where she started to be more assertive on the court. As a result, the offense started to flow more through her.

“I want to touch every aspect of the floor — offensively, defensively,” she said after Friday’s game, “but you have to be in shape and … have the IQ to do that. So every game — I think it started really with Chicago, with me being a little more vocal, especially offensively, with where I think things should go.”

Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?

Subscribe now to The IX Sports and receive our daily women’s sports newsletter covering soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers. That includes Basketball Wednesday from founder and editor Howard Megdal.

Readers of The IX Basketball now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.

Though Austin didn’t score as many points on Tuesday as on Friday, her role as a fulcrum for the team showed up in the box score both nights. Those are the only two games of her career in which she has recorded multiple assists, steals and blocks.

This is what Johnson imagined it’d look like with Austin at full strength. It’s why he brought her along slowly and why he described her as a centerpiece of the team before she’d played a single game for him. It wasn’t just about her 28 points on Friday; it’s about everything else she’s showing lately, from her passing to her on-court leadership.

For example, she looked confident handling the ball in unsettled situations on both Tuesday and Friday. Early in the second quarter on Tuesday, she blocked a shot by Sky center/forward Elizabeth Williams, then corralled the loose ball and pushed it up the court herself. On Friday, Austin caught an outlet pass near midcourt from guard Brittney Sykes, brought the ball up, and drew a foul attacking the basket.

“That’s a skill that I’ve always taken pride in is being able to be a big that can open the floor and push the ball for us, but also just make the right plays being a playmaker,” Austin said after Friday’s game. “So I’m just trying to get comfortable making that a normal part of my game.”

“Her playmaking ability today really stood out to me,” Citron added. “Not only was she a force in the paint, she was also finding shooters. She was making great passes. She found me a couple times. But just her ability to touch every part of the game, I think, was really special to watch.”

The main difference between Tuesday and Friday was Austin’s pace. She was out of rhythm at times on Tuesday, including dribbling the ball off her own leg on a drive to the rim, and had four turnovers.

But on Friday, the patience Johnson wanted to see shone through in her production and her efficiency. Austin said one of the coaches praised her afterward for playing “probably the slowest game that I’ve played in my career.”

“And that’s just how it felt,” Austin continued. “Everything was really smooth, and I made, I think, the right reads.” She had just one turnover, on a pass in transition to rookie forward Kiki Iriafen that went off Iriafen’s hands.

Austin took her game to an even higher level in the fourth quarter, which helped the Mystics claw back from a 12-point deficit. In that quarter alone, she had 13 points, five rebounds, an assist, and a defensive stop that gave the Mystics a chance to tie the game on their final possession. The Mystics outscored the Dream by 15 points when Austin was on the court and were outscored by 4 when she was on the bench.

Austin surpassed her career high in points with two minutes left, when Citron missed a 3-pointer and point guard Jade Melbourne tapped the offensive rebound to Austin for an easy layup. About 30 seconds later, Austin caught a pass from Sykes and made a short jumper through contact. As the official signaled for a blocking foul on her defender, Austin pumped her right fist down three times.

Austin won’t score 28 points every night, but if she continues to impact the game across the board like she has lately, the Mystics will be a much more dangerous team. They have been better both offensively and defensively with her on the court than off, particularly over the past three games. Her on-court leadership is a boon for the youngest team in the WNBA. And her defense and growing comfort handling the ball can help the Mystics push the pace in transition, which is key in Johnson’s system.

“I’m just seeing growth right in front of my eyes,” Johnson said about Austin on Tuesday. “… Her growth as a person, as a teammate, as a facilitator, these things are … so massive. And it’s fun to see that from her.”

Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The Next. The Next’s editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.