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PHOENIX (AP) — Brionna Jones scored 20 points on 10 of 16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, Marina Mabrey added 19 points and the Connecticut Sun beat the Phoenix Mercury 88-69 on Friday night.

Tyasha Harris made a 3-pointer that made it 11-8 at 6:16 of the first quarter, and Connecticut (27-10) led the rest of the game en route to its third straight victory. With the win, the Sun remained one game behind the Minnesota Lynx for second place in the WNBA standings and four games behind the first-place New York Liberty.

DeWanna Bonner scored 14 points, Harris 12 and Alyssa Thomas finished with 11 assists for seven points for the Sun.

Phoenix (17-20) has lost six of its last seven games, including three in a row, since beating the Atlanta Dream 74-66 on Sept. 3 to clinch a postseason berth. The Mercury’s streak of 10 consecutive playoff appearances ended last season when they won just nine games and had the second-worst winning percentage in franchise history (.225).

Brittney Griner made 11 of 15 shots for 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks for the Mercury. Natasha Cloud scored 17 points with seven assists and Diana Taurasi scored seven points on 2 of 10 shooting with four assists.

Connecticut had a 22-17 lead after the first quarter and extended it to 46-38 by halftime.

A jump shot from Cloud cut the Sun’s lead to 48-42 at 7:31 of the third period, but Connecticut responded with a 22-0 run and went into the fourth period with a convincing 70-44 lead.

The Sun outscored the Mercury 24-6 in the third quarter as Phoenix made 3 of 20 field shots, including 0 of 10 three-pointers. It was the Mercury’s lowest-scoring quarter of the season.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball