CHICAGO — On the first possession of the second half on Thursday, Georgia Amoore initiated the offense and cut to the corner, right in front of the Washington Mystics bench. She took a pass from Shakira Austin and drained a 3-pointer. Her teammates were up celebrating behind her almost as soon as the ball had left her hand.
A few plays later, Amoore inbounded the ball to Cotie McMahon, circled up to the top of the key and knocked down another triple. Again, her teammates were on their feet.
“We need her to take those shots. We want her to take those shots,” Kiki Iriafen said. “And we have 120% confidence in her when she’s shooting.”
Amoore’s 3s helped turn an 11-point game at the half into a rout, and she finished with 12 points and five assists on 4 of 7 from the outside in the Mystics’ 110-80 win over the Chicago Sky (who will hand the Mystics a lottery pick in next year’s draft).
A few months ago, it would have been hard to imagine such a game from Amoore.
The No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Amoore tore her ACL in her right knee during training camp last April and missed the entire 2025 season. An Australian native, Amoore made only a brief return home during the winter, choosing instead to spend the majority of the offseason in D.C., rehabbing and working out in largely empty gyms with the Mystics’ performance staff.
Her effort earned her medical clearance and the Mystics’ starting point guard job, but when she returned to the court she didn’t look or feel like herself. “The way I play, my feet are quick, I’m bouncy, I have a spring,” Amoore told CBS Sports. “I just didn’t have that for the first 75% of the season.”
Amoore shot 2 of 9 and had nearly as many turnovers (five) as points (six) in her WNBA debut. In May, she averaged 6.3 points, four assists and 2.7 turnovers on 26.7% shooting, including 22.6% from 3-point range. The struggles continued well into the summer. As August rolled around and Amoore scored three points over five games, including four scoreless outings, questions arose about whether the Mystics should continue starting her.
“It was just my injury,” Amoore said. “I think the biggest thing was telling myself every single other athlete I had talked to said for them it didn’t click for a year and a half, two years after. You get a year of rehab, or nine months, and then you gotta play. You gotta play through all the crap. I was doing that against the best in the world and in the best league in the world, so that was like a second slap in the face.”
For Amoore, it finally clicked shortly before the World Cup break – 16 months after her injury and 35 games into her rookie season. She made three 3s in three consecutive games from Aug. 19-23, and shortly after that, rained in six 3s en route to 25 points – both career-highs – in a win over the Mercury.
Early in her return, Amoore could literally feel how her lack of quad strength was affecting her shot. “Every time I was shooting, I was like, ‘I’m not loaded,’ and then I’m missing left. And if I’m missing left – I tore my right ACL – clearly I’m spinning a little bit,” she explained. “There were a lot of airballs.”
Now that Amoore feels “way better physically,” she’s been able to “build on more of the skill, the fitness, the shooting.” There aren’t many airballs these days. “Now when I miss it’s at least hitting the rim,” Amoore joked.
Amoore’s 3-point strides
|
Pre-All-Star |
1.2 |
4.1 |
28.3% |
|
Post-All-Star |
2 |
4.9 |
41.1% |
In her last seven games, on either side of the World Cup break, Amoore is averaging 12.1 points and 3.7 assists with just 1.6 turnovers on 48.9% shooting from downtown. “It’s taken some time for her to get in her groove and be fully back to who she is, and you can see that swagger,” Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said, adding that Amoore has shown “an incredible amount of mental toughness.”
For the season, Amoore is up to 33.5% from behind the arc, and leads the Mystics in 3-point attempts per game (4.4), 3-point makes per game (1.5) and total made 3-point makes (60). As important as her point guard responsibilities are, Amoore’s shooting is even more consequential. For the season, they are 13-2 when Amoore shoots 50% or better from 3 in a game, and 12-14 when she’s under that mark.
No team takes more free throws (24.9 per game) than the Mystics, and only the Atlanta Dream score more points in the paint (42.9 per game). On the flip side, no team takes fewer 3s than the Mystics (19.6 per game), who rank 13th in the league at 31.5% from long range. Aside from Amoore, the only Mystics players who attempt more than two 3s per game are Sonia Citron and Michaela Onyenwere.
When she’s hitting 3s, the Mystics are a “different team,” Johnson said. “Seeing those fall, it just adds that inside-out balance, because everyone knows we can score in the paint.”
The young Mystics are ahead of schedule on their rebuild. Thanks to a league-best 11-4 record since the All-Star break, they are now 25-16 and sit in sixth place with less than a week remaining in the season. They’ve already clinched their first playoff appearance since 2023, and need just two more wins to set a single-season franchise record.
In one of the most wide-open playoffs in recent memory, the Mystics have the defense (103.5 defensive rating, tied for second in the league) and physicality to make a run. Whether or not they have the offense to do so may ultimately depend on Amoore.
Mystics’ offensive strides
|
Pre-All-Star |
100.1 (14th) |
29% (14th) |
14-12 |
|
Post-All-Star |
110.5 (7th) |
35.9% (4th) |
11-4 |
It’s no coincidence that the Mystics’ massive improvement on that side of the ball has coincided with Amoore’s improved play. Since the All-Star break, the Mystics have a 112.5 offensive rating with Amoore on the floor and a 103 offensive rating when she sits. Their defense has been only marginally better with her off the floor, and her plus-8.8 net rating differential is the best among any of the team’s starters in that stretch.
“Not one part of this year have I been like, ‘I can’t do this,’ or ‘I don’t think they trust me or see faith in me,'” Amoore said. “Obviously that helps, and as a collective we’ve grown so well together.”
Regardless of what happens in the playoffs, Amoore turning things around and proving she belongs only creates a brighter future for the youngest team in the league.
“It’s pretty emotional to think about the trajectory that she’s taken,” Johnson said. “And she’s only just beginning.”