"Love you pookie": Kiki Iriafen shares true feelings on Sonia Citron as ROTY runner-up shares best moments from rookie season

Sonia Citron and the Washington Mystics missed out on the postseason, wrapping up their campaign in 10th place. Even though the regular season ended nearly two weeks ago, Citron took a moment on Monday to look back on her first year in the WNBA.

She uploaded a carousel of several photos and videos on Instagram, capturing moments from her rookie campaign.

“Year 1 done :),” Citron captioned her post.

The social media activity instantly went viral, garnering hundreds of comments in just eight hours. Teammates Kiki Iriafen and Lucy Olsen joined many to celebrate Citron’s memorable rookie year.

“Love you pookie❤️,” Iriafen wrote.

“👏👏👏,” rapper G-Eazy commented.

“Congratulations on an amazing year! Loved watching you play multiple times and we are glad to have you in DC 🔥❤️💙,” @redcup_special wrote.

“W Rookie Season, W Rookie 🔥 Great year, just the beginning,” @teisha_hyman said.

“YAY SONIIIII,” Lucy Olsen said.

“My goat,” @natalijamarshall said.

Citron wrapped up her season averaging 14.9 points, 4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals a night. She etched her name in the history books, becoming the franchise’s single-season scoring leader with 657 points while also shattering rookie marks for points and 3-pointers made.

Apart from receiving All-Star honors, Citron was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year. While Citron collected two votes, Dallas’ Paige Bueckers claimed the other 70 to take home the award.

Sonia Citron hypes fellow rookie’s Instagram post

Lucy Olsen joined Sonia Citron in ending her rookie season by sharing a heartfelt Instagram post on Monday. She uploaded 14 photos from various moments of her first year and captioned the post:

“Rookie season is complete, and I’m filled with nothing but gratitude. #year1 #basketballisfun #lovethisteam #dreamsdocometrue❤️🤪”

Her teammate, Sonia Citron, made sure to celebrate alongside her. Citron dropped a fun comment, “BIG LUC,” and also shared Olsen’s post on Instagram Story as a way of showing support.

On the court, Olsen finished her first regular season averaging 4.0 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Fellow rookie Kiki Iriafen averaged 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, earning an All-Star selection. Both Iriafen and Citron became the first rookie teammates in franchise history to make the All-Star team.

About the author

Advait Jajodia is an NBA, WNBA, and tennis journalist at Sportskeeda with over four years of experience in the field with The SportsRush.

Advait has a love of basketball that stems from playing the game, and has represented Mumbai North at the Inter-District State Championship and Maharashtra at the ASISC National Games.

His favorite team is the New Orleans Pelicans, although Advait also has an affinity for the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. His favorite player of all time was Kobe Bryant, as the Lakers legend's undeniable talent and mentality were just unignorable. As for players in the current game, Stephen Curry, Zion Williamson, Victor Wembanyama, and Kyrie Irving are top of Advait's list.

When not watching or writing about sports, Advait is a fan of true crime shows, board games and console gaming.

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Edited by Bhargav