How three former Phoenix Mercury coaches built a WNBA dynasty
Phoenix Mercury head coaches Paul Westhead, Corey Gaines and Sandy Brondello each won a WNBA championship while building a dynasty in the desert.
With the Indiana Fever losing to the Las Vegas Aces earlier in the evening, the seventh-seeded Phoenix Mercury had a chance to make up ground in the playoff standings, but instead the Mercury suffered a loss to the Connecticut Sun on Friday night in Phoenix.
The Mercury faltered in the third quarter and lost to the Sun 24-6.
The Mercury (17-20) wasted a hard-fought first half, left a lot to be desired in the third quarter, led 24-6 and lost 88-69, leaving them 1.5 games behind the Fever.
The Suns took a 20-0 lead in the decisive third quarter, with former Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner scoring seven points in the period. The Mercury were unable to make anything from 3-point range, hitting 0 of 10 and shooting just 15% overall in the third quarter (3 of 20).
Brionna Jones led the Sun with 20 points, but Marina Mabrey’s 19 points sparked excitement on the bench and showed a balanced Sun attack.
Brittney Griner led the Mercury with 26 points, but the starting lineup struggled without leading scorer Kahleah Copper. Copper was out with a back injury and was replaced in the lineup by Celeste Taylor.
Where do the Mercury stand in the playoff standings?
The Mercury are the seventh seed in the WNBA playoffs behind the Fever (19-19). The Fever’s 78-74 loss to the Aces and the Mercury’s loss put the Fever 1.5 games ahead of the Mercury.
The Connecticut Sun (27-10) are one game behind the Minnesota Lynx (28-9) in second place and hold the tiebreaker after beating them 2-0.
The Mercury have to play three games, the Fever two. Both of the Fever’s games are against teams in the draft lottery.
The Mercury will play twice on the road, against the Chicago Sky on Sunday, September 15th, and against the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday, September 17th.
Phoenix finishes the regular season by hosting Seattle next Thursday, September 19th.
Chicago’s star rookie Angel Reese will not play against the Mercury after suffering a season-ending wrist injury. Reese had 26 double-doubles, the second-most in a season, and set a WNBA record earlier this summer with 15 consecutive double-doubles.
The Washington Mystics (13-24) overtook the Sky on Friday and secured the last playoff spot.
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Kahleah Copper out, Brittney Griner steps in, Mercury trails at halftime against Connecticut
The Phoenix Mercury had to look for other answers on offense without top scorer Kahleah Copper in the starting lineup on Friday night, and Brittney Griner provided that answer.
Griner scored 12 points, including her ninth 3-pointer of the season, to help the Mercury catch the Connecticut Sun, who led Phoenix 46-38 at halftime.
Copper, who leads the team with 21.6 points per game, was out with a back injury and was replaced by defenseman Celeste Taylor.
With Copper out, the Mercury were unable to score many points in the first quarter other than Diana Taurasi, Natasha Cloud and Griner. The trio scored all 17 of the Mercury’s first quarter points.
But the rest of the team helped overcome a 6-1 run by the Sun early in the second quarter and keep the game exciting.
Sophie Cunningham and Monique Billings each contributed four points for the Mercury, while Sun player Marina Mabrey had a big impact off the bench and was the leading scorer with 13 points.
