For the second time in four years, the Washington Mystics will be down a draft pick to start the season.

Christyn Williams, a 5-foot-11 guard out of Connecticut whom the Mystics selected in the second round this month, suffered a season-ending knee injury at practice Tuesday. The Mystics did not disclose the precise nature of Williams’s injury, but she will have surgery, and there is no timetable for her return.

“We are heartbroken for Christyn and will miss her greatly. She was off to a terrific start in training camp, and I know she will work diligently to make a comeback next season,” Mystics Coach/General Manager Mike Thibault said in a statement Wednesday.

Washington added former Maryland guard Katie Benzan to its training camp roster Wednesday in a corresponding move. Benzan is a sharpshooter who averaged 10.2 points and shot 44.5 percent from three-point range this season.

In 2019, Kiara Leslie, the Mystics’ top pick, missed the season after an MRI exam revealed a torn meniscus, an injury that was a surprise to Washington. In part because of the short stretch between the end of the college season and the WNBA draft, it isn’t uncommon for draft picks to work out for their pro teams for the first time the week before training camp.

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Williams may not have started for Washington this season, given the more experienced guards — including Ariel Atkins and Natasha Cloud — on the depth chart, but the Arkansas native would have given Thibault another talented shooter, one with experience under pressure. She averaged 14.2 points and 2.3 assists as a key member of the Connecticut team that lost to South Carolina in the national championship game April 3.

Elena Delle Donne is back, and the Mystics are championship-minded

The Mystics will be down a few players for their exhibition opener Sunday at Atlanta. Thibault said Monday that he did not envision Elena Delle Donne or Alysha Clark playing against the Dream. Two-time MVP Delle Donne is coming back from a pair of back surgeries that limited her to three games last year, and Clark is returning from a foot injury that scrapped her entire 2021 campaign.

The Mystics open the regular season May 6 against Indiana at Entertainment and Sports Arena.

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