Story by
Sonia Citron never thought she’d play in the WNBA. Now she’s the Mystics’ go-to scorer
- Story by
- Sonia Citron never thought she’d play in the WNBA. Now she’s the Mystics’ go-to scorer
As she entered the fourth quarter of her first WNBA postseason game, Sonia Citron picked up her level of aggression. The All-Star guard was bringing up the ball, directing traffic, calling for screens to switch her defensive matchup and knifing her way into the paint, doing anything to put points on the board in a last-ditch comeback attempt.
That's the Citron the Washington Mystics have come to expect, the 2026 league leader in clutch points and their go-to perimeter scorer, who is already a two-time All-Star in her second season. Although the Mystics lost 92-77 to the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of Sunday's first-round matchup, Citron finished with 25 points, tied for the sixth-most in a playoff debut.
Advertisement
Her teammate Kiki Iriafen called her "a silent assassin."
Citron made the transition from college to the pros look seamless, finishing her first season fourth in 3-point percentage, 10th in steals and 14th in points. Her path would suggest that she was always destined for immediate success in the W.
But it was only a few seasons earlier that the Notre Dame coaching staff had to beg Citron, who finished her college career making 37 percent of her 3s, to shoot. She was deferential by nature, wanting to do what was best for the team even if that meant letting other players take control.
It wasn't until the summer before her senior year that she started to entertain the idea of playing in the WNBA. That wasn't on her radar when she got to South Bend, Ind., and for her first three college seasons, the Fighting Irish coaching staff didn't really broach the subject of playing professionally.
"It was when I started hearing mock drafts, oh, you're supposed to go first round," Citron said, "and I'm like, what is going on? That is definitely not something I ever thought."
Advertisement
Michaela Mabrey, a Notre Dame assistant at the time, took Citron to a Chicago Sky game during the 2024 WNBA season to watch her younger sister, and fellow Fighting Irish alum, Marina Mabrey play. It wasn't an invitation; Citron didn't have a choice. Mabrey had decided, and the purpose was for the rising senior to watch the game while imagining herself playing at that level.
Mabrey wanted Citron to feel the flow of the game, get a sense of the physicality and understand why she was being coached to attack a certain way, why she had to get lower on some moves instead of staying straight up. It was on the drive back when Citron first told Mabrey she could see herself playing in the WNBA.
"I want you to believe it. I already know you can, but I need you to know that you can," Mabrey had told Citron on the way to Chicago. "I think after watching that game and picturing herself in the game, it just all changed for her. She knew it. She had the confidence that she could play."
Mabrey knew that Citron's game would be better suited for the professional level, and Washington quickly identified her as someone who could outperform her college production. With the defensive three-seconds rule, Citron was afforded so much more space coming off of pin downs and wide screens, giving her the ability to attack downhill while maintaining the threat of her 3-point jumper. Her experience playing off-ball allowed her to be more efficient with her touches when she got to the league.
Advertisement
Citron prides herself on doing what the team asks of her. That led her to be deferential in college when she shared a backcourt with Olivia Miles, then Hannah Hidalgo, and then both at the same time. In Washington, she is called upon to be the go-to guard, so she goes out and does that.
"In order to succeed in this league, you need opportunity, and you need a staff, an organization that believes in you," Citron said. "From the beginning, D.C. just instilled so much confidence and belief in me that I just felt like, not that I could do no wrong, but I could learn through it."
She's taken on more point-guard responsibilities with the Mystics rostering two rookies at that position. She works with player development coach Clinton Crouch on her handle. He has helped her be twitchier and beat defenders quickly without over-dribbling, constantly working on counters as defenses scout Citron's game.
Citron ranked 20th in assists per game as a sophomore and improved her assist-to-turnover ratio to 1.84 with the increased ballhandling. Washington's second- and third-most used lineups (after the starters) both feature Citron at the 1, and the Mystics have a net rating of plus-13.1 points per 100 possessions in those units, per databallr.
Advertisement
Citron entered the 2026 season as one of the more experienced players on Washington's roster, behind only Shakira Austin and Michaela Onyenwere . That meant the Mystics needed more from her as a leader as well, spurring her to grow out of her silent shell. Iriafen says Citron has become more vocal in the locker room and in huddles, and Citron says she took some notes from Breanna Stewart at the FIBA World Cup on how to be intentional with her communication.
"Sonia's very soft-spoken," coach Sydney Johnson said. "But the (teammates) listen, and they hang on every word and respect her."
Despite her success in her first two seasons and the accolades she has accumulated, Citron isn't a detailed goal-setter. She didn't come into the season wanting to repeat as an All-Star or make All-WNBA. She likes to remain present and focus on the tasks immediately in front of her.
She picked up a basketball because that's what her brother Will did. (She also played soccer for the same reason, but she eventually — literally, at 6-foot-1 — grew out of that.) Mabrey was the one who gave Citron benchmarks to hit at Notre Dame, like shooting four times per quarter to stay involved in the offense, no matter how many times she missed.
Advertisement
That simplified approach has resulted in the Mystics being 8.8 points per 100 possessions better in her minutes in 2025 and 10.8 this season. Citron became the first rookie since Cheryl Ford in 2003 to earn an All-Star nod after never being named an All-American in college.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that, but for myself, I know obviously what works best for me is not putting that in my head and putting extra pressure on myself," Citron said. "I just want to be a better player and person than I was last year, and I think that will continue to remain the same for my career."
There is a long way to go in Citron's career, even if her current season is in jeopardy. The challenge Citron now faces is the Dream, who can eliminate Washington with a win in Game 2. Angel Reese was on the court for the Chicago Sky the day Citron realized she could find herself in this position. Now, Reese stands in the way of her extending her season.
The Mystics will rely on Citron to lead them through. No need to defer. This is where she belongs, in the middle of the action.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic .
Washington Mystics, WNBA
2026 The Athletic Media Company
