Sonia Citron

Sonia Citron
Citron with the Washington Mystics in 2025
No. 22 – Washington Mystics
PositionShooting guard / small forward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (2003-10-22) October 22, 2003
White Plains, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolThe Ursuline School
(New Rochelle, New York)
CollegeNotre Dame (2021–2025)
WNBA draft2025: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Drafted byWashington Mystics
Playing career2025–present
Career history
2025–presentWashington Mystics
2026–presentHive
Career highlights
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference 
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing the  United States
FIBA Under-19 World Cup
Gold medal – first place2021 HungaryTeam
FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship
Gold medal – first place2019 ChileTeam

Sonia Elizabeth Citron (born October 22, 2003) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Hive of Unrivaled. She played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Citron was selected third overall by the Mystics in the 2025 WNBA draft and was named an All-Star in her rookie season.

Early life and high school career

Citron was born in White Plains, New York to Yolanda and William Citron. Her father played college basketball for Bradley,[1] and her brother, Will, has played college soccer for Cornell and Virginia. She grew up playing soccer and began focusing on basketball in eighth grade, modeling her game after Sabrina Ionescu.[2] Citron played basketball for The Ursuline School in New Rochelle, New York and the Philadelphia Belles.[3] As a junior, she averaged 23.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 3.1 assists per game, and was named New York Gatorade Player of the Year, New York State Sportswriters Association Class AA Player of the Year and The Journal News Westchester/Putnam Player of the Year.[4] She led Ursuline to the Section 1 Class AA title and a 24–0 record, before the state tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

In her senior season, Citron averaged 26.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, five assists and three steals per game,[6] leading Ursuline to the Southern Westchester Group 1 championship and a 14–0 record.[7] She was named Miss New York Basketball as the top player in the state,[8] while repeating as New York Gatorade Player of the Year and Westchester/Putnam Player of the Year.[6][9] Citron was selected to the rosters for the McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic.[10] Rated a four-star recruit and one of the top guards in her class by ESPN,[11] she committed to play college basketball for Notre Dame over offers from Oregon, Stanford and Ohio State, among others.[12]

College career

Citron played for Notre Dame for four years. As a freshman, she averaged 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, earning Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Year.[13] She was a six-time ACC Freshman of the Week, matching the program record held by Brianna Turner.[14] Citron averaged 14.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a sophomore and was named first-team All-ACC.[15] She scored a career-high 29 points in a 76–71 win over Michigan State as a freshman, on December 2, 2021.[16]

Professional career

WNBA

2025 season

On April 14, 2025, Citron was selected third overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2025 WNBA draft.[17] She made her professional debut on May 16, in a game against the Atlanta Dream, where she scored 19 points in 6-7 shooting from the field in 24 minutes.[18] On June 22, in an overtime game against the Dallas Wings, she scored 27 points and got 11 rebounds, becoming the first Mystics rookie to get 25-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in a game.[19]

On July 6, 2025, Citron was named a 2025 WNBA All-Star as a reserve. With teammate Kiki Iriafen also being named an All-Star reserve, the pair made history as the second rookie teammate pair, and the first pair since 1999, to be selected as All-Stars.[20] Citron logged 11 points in her first All-Star game.[21]

Citron was also a participant in the 2025 WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest. Sabrina Ionescu vowed to give half of her winnings to Citron if she won the 3-Point Contest, which she ended up winning, because Citron has stated in the past that she admired Ionescu's style of play, and because Citron was the only rookie to participate in the 3-Point Contest. The other half of Ionescu's winnings went to Ionescu's foundation, the SI20 Foundation.[22]

2026 season

On June 20, 2026, in a win against the New York Liberty, Citron recorded a 4x5 game (4 different statistical categories with at least 5) when she logged 16 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals.[23]

On June 28, 2026, Citron scored a season high 32 points, as well as 6 rebounds and 4 assists, in a four-overtime game against the Portland Fire. The Mystics won the game 124-123. It was the second time in WNBA history that a game needed 4 overtimes to declare a winner. The other four-overtime game was 25 years prior, on July 3, 2001, when the Mystics beat the Seattle Storm 72-69.[24]

On July 8, 2026, Citron was named as a 2026 WNBA All-Star reserve for the second consecutive season, alongside fellow Mystic Iriafen. Citron and Iriafen are the first teammates since 1999 to be named to consecutive All-Star games in their first two seasons (Shannon Johnson, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, and Nykesha Sales of the Orlando Miracle were the last teammates to be named to consecutive all-star teams in 1999).[25]

Unrivaled

On November 5, 2025, it was announced that Citron had been drafted by Hive BC for the 2026 Unrivaled season.[26] She was also named team captain despite being the youngest player on the team. On February 2, 2026, Citron scored a season-high 32 points, and also had five assists and two blocks, in a loss to Vinyl BC.[27]

National team career

Citron won a gold medal with the United States at the 2019 FIBA Under-16 Women's Americas Championship in Chile. She was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 13.3 points per game, second on her team.[28] Citron helped the United States win another gold medal at the 2021 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Hungary. She averaged 13.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, earning all-tournament team honors.[29]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

Stats current through end of 2025 season

WNBA regular season statistics[30]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2025 Washington 44°44°32.3.470.445°.8724.02.41.30.42.114.9
Career 1 year, 1 team 444432.3.470.445.8724.02.41.30.42.114.9
All-Star 1020.8.364.375—2.02.01.00.01.011.0

College

NCAA statistics[31]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021–22 Notre Dame 331630.544.934.184.36.62.21.60.42.111.8
2022–23 Notre Dame 333333.547.640.076.45.52.51.70.62.514.7
2023–24 Notre Dame 262635.846.035.991.25.52.71.80.62.417.3
2024–25 Notre Dame 323234.048.437.289.05.42.71.90.91.814.1
Career 12410733.346.837.084.35.82.51.80.62.214.3

Personal life

Citron is dating Dallas Cowboys linebacker Marist Liufau, her fellow Notre Dame alumnus.[32]

Citron is of Cape Verdean descent on her mother's side. Her maternal grandparents were born in Cape Verde, as was her mother Yolanda; Citron described the family's ethnicity as "a mix of Black and Portuguese." Citron's family moved to Dakar, Senegal when Yolanda was a child. Yolanda immigrated to the United States in her mid-twenties, while other relatives remained in Senegal or moved to France. Citron grew up eating Senegalese food and listening to Cape Verdean music.[33]

Citron's favorite musical genre is Afrobeats.[33] In a 2025 interview, she said that her favorite artists are Omah Lay, Wizkid, and Burna Boy.[33]

References

  1. ↑ "Sonia Citron". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  2. ↑ Powell, Jackie (May 19, 2020). "All Of The Lights: Sonia Citron Is Ready to Shine At Notre Dame". Slam. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Belles Earn All-America & Post-Season Honors". Philadelphia Belles. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  4. ↑ Dougherty, Mike (March 30, 2020). "Girls basketball: Sonia Citron adds Westchester/Putnam Player of the Year to long résumé". The Journal News. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  5. ↑ Dougherty, Mike (December 5, 2020). "With the season on hold, ND recruit Sonia Citron is going next level". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Dougherty, Mike (May 27, 2021). "Girls basketball: Sonia Citron repeats as Gatorade New York Player of the Year". The Journal News. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  7. ↑ Dougherty, Mike (March 13, 2021). "Girls basketball: Ursuline sends Sonia Citron and Alexa Mustafaj off with one last win". The Journal News. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Citron Named Ms. New York Basketball". NYCHoops. May 10, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  9. ↑ Dougherty, Mike (April 21, 2021). "Girls basketball: Ursuline's Sonia Citron repeats as Westchester/Putnam Player of the Year". The Journal News. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Citron/Miles Named to 2021 Jordan Brand Classic". Notre Dame Fighting Irish. May 24, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Sonia Citron 2021 High School Girls' Basketball Profile". ESPN. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  12. ↑ Hansen, Eric (April 26, 2020). "Another top 20 recruit, guard Sonia Citron, adds to Niele Ivey's recruiting roll at Notre Dame". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  13. ↑ Anderson, Anthony (October 11, 2022). "Notre Dame women's basketball has lots of potential — and they know it". Notre Dame Insider. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Citron a Six-Time ACC Freshman of the Week". Notre Dame Fighting Irish. February 14, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  15. ↑ Coolican, Liam (March 24, 2023). "Citron steps into leadership role as Irish make tournament run". The Observer. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ Anderson, Anthony (December 2, 2021). "Women's basketball: Big night for Citron as No. 24 Irish down Michigan State". Notre Dame Insider. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  17. ↑ Hall, Meghan L. "Washington Mystics select Notre Dame's Sonia Citron with No. 3 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  18. ↑ Young, Grant (May 16, 2025). "WNBA Fans Wowed by Rookie Sonia Citron's Debut Mystics Performance vs Dream". si.com. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  19. ↑ Copeland, Kareem (June 22, 2025). "Sonia Citron outshines Paige Bueckers as the Mystics clip the Wings in OT". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Sonia Citron & Kiki Iriafen Named to 2025 WNBA All-Star Game". mystics.wnba.com. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  21. ↑ "2025 WNBA All-Star Game Box Score". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  22. ↑ "New York Liberty All-Star sweep: Sabrina Ionescu wins 2025 WNBA 3-Point Contest, Natasha Cloud wins Skills Challenge". Yahoo Sports. July 19, 2025. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  23. ↑ www.espn.com https://www.espn.com/wnba/boxscore/_/gameId/401857004. Retrieved July 11, 2026. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ↑ www.espn.com https://www.espn.com/wnba/recap/_/gameId/401857031. Retrieved July 11, 2026. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ↑ "Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen Named 2026 WNBA All-Star Reserves". mystics.wnba.com. Retrieved July 10, 2026.
  26. ↑ Andrews, Kendra (November 5, 2025). "Rosters set for Unrivaled second season after internal draft". ESPN. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
  27. ↑ "Vinyl (74-71) Hive (Feb 02, 2026) Final Score | Unrivaled". www.unrivaled.basketball. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  28. ↑ Szkolar, Adrian (December 7, 2019). "Girls basketball: Ursuline's Sonia Citron ranked a five-star recruit by ESPN". The Journal News. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  29. ↑ "Sonia Citron shines in FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup". FIBA. August 16, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Sonia Citron WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
  31. ↑ "Sonia Citron College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  32. ↑ Sanchez, Josh (October 23, 2025). "Cowboys' Marist Liufau shares candid photo for WNBA star gf Sonia Citron's birthday". Sports Illustrated.
  33. 1 2 3 Hurd, Sean (August 1, 2025). "West African roots, strong work ethic drive Washington Mystics rookie Sonia Citron". Andscape. Retrieved July 26, 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.