Head Coach Mike Thibault became the first WNBA coach to reach the 300-career-win milestone as his team, the Washington Mystics, secured an 83-74 win over the Los Angeles Sparks Saturday night.
Kristi Toliver led the way in scoring with 18 points to help earn the win for her team. Along with Toliver, Latoya Sanders added 14 points and eight rebounds in the victory, with Elena Delle Donne and Ariel Atkins also adding 11 points apiece.
While Mike Thibault is the first WNBA coach to reach this milestone, the Sparks coach Brian Agler is following closely behind in second with 264 all-time career wins.
WNBA President Lisa Borders praised the successful coach.
“Congratulations to Mike Thibault on becoming the first WNBA head coach to win 300 regular-season games. Mike’s dedication to women’s basketball and enduring passion for the game have underpinned his outstanding career. We salute him for his sustained success.”
After coaching the Connecticut Sun for 10 seasons, Thibault became the winningest head coach in WNBA history in 2013, which was also his first year with the Mystics.
“It just means I’ve been at it for a long time. It’s a nice number, but the only number I care about is that we’re the last team standing,” Thibault said on his milestone.
The only thing missing from Thibault’s impressive coaching resume is a league title, but as his current team sits at 12-7 so far this season, he might have a chance to change that in the following months.
