The Ole Miss product is having the kind of week that wins awards. Shakira Austin put together back-to-back double-doubles to cap Washington's most successful regular season in franchise history — and her teammates are running out of superlatives.
The Record-Breaker
On Tuesday against Connecticut, Austin delivered the performance of the week: 25 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, and a +9 in Washington's 79-69 victory over the Sun. It was her 20th double-double of the season and, more significantly, the win that pushed the Mystics to 27-16 — a franchise record, eclipsing the 26-win mark set by Washington's 2019 championship squad. The margin over Dallas and New York for playoff positioning stood at one game with two days left in the regular season.
Two days earlier against Indiana, Austin had been just as dominant: 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a +15 in a 93-77 road win over the Fever. Washington led by 20 at halftime and never looked back.
On Thursday vs. Chicago, Austin's scoring dipped to 7 points, but she still hauled in 11 rebounds and finished +7 in a 101-93 Washington win, showing the kind of quiet impact that doesn't always show up in highlight packages.
The MIP Case
After the Indiana win, Mystics guard Georgia Amoore didn't mince words about her teammate. "If she doesn't win Most Improved Player, I'm going to start a riot," Amoore said, a quote that quickly made the rounds. It's hard to argue with the sentiment.
SB Nation's WNBA writers put Austin among three finalists in their Most Improved Player discussion — alongside Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard and Portland Fire guard Carla Leite — noting that all three are "far more impactful than they were last year." Austin's case rests on consistency: 20 double-doubles in a single season for a team that just rewrote its own record books is a combination that's hard to overlook when ballots are cast.
The Bigger Picture
Austin is the lone Ole Miss alumna making waves in the WNBA this week, but her week alone is enough to carry the Rebel banner. Three games, two double-doubles, a franchise record, and a live award case heading into the postseason — this is what a breakout campaign looks like in its final chapter. Rebel fans who watched Austin develop in Oxford are now watching her become one of the defining players of Washington's best-ever season.
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