{"id":273382,"date":"2025-11-05T16:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T16:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/273382\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T16:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T16:47:08","slug":"how-mercurys-held-showcased-her-talents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/273382\/","title":{"rendered":"How Mercury&#8217;s Held Showcased Her Talents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_6w3br25oq\">Lexi Held joined the Phoenix Mercury this season, and like <a class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_k0tslj\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/wnba\/mercury\/phoenix-los-angeles-sparks-kathryn-westbeld-lexi-held\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kathryn Westbeld,<\/a> she went undrafted. Westbeld went undrafted back in 2018, and she played internationally before coming to Phoenix. Held went undrafted back in 2022, and she was also overseas before signing a deal with the Mercury. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_khqueh2mb\">Held and Phoenix&#8217;s other rookies made the final roster, and at the beginning of the season, they were making a name for themselves. The 3-point threat from DePaul was playing well in the beginning, and she was receiving some significant minutes. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\" alt=\"Lexi Hel\" title=\"Lexi Hel\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sep 11, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) is hit by Phoenix Mercury guard Lexi Held (1) during the second half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images \/ Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_3nkx2u5nz\">In her first game, Held had 11 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals. Later on, she had her best game, as she had 24 points, two assists and a steal <a class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_k0tslj\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/player\/gamelog\/_\/id\/4399342\/lexi-held\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">against the Golden State Valkyries<\/a>. Held had six games where she scored in double figures this season. There was a stretch where she had four games of 10 or more points in a row, and her performance against Golden State was the second game of that period. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_cshz203r9\">Overall, the Mercury rookie averaged 5.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists. She scored a total of 170 points, which is a good start for a rookie. She had a total of 34 rebounds, and 23 of them were on the defensive end. She had 11 offensive rebounds in the process. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\" alt=\"Lexi Hel\" title=\"Lexi Hel\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Jun 18, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Phoenix Mercury guard Lexi Held (1) dribbles the ball against the Connecticut Sun during the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images \/ Eric Canha-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_3w6em5ixv\">Held moved the ball well, and she had 35 assists. She also contributed on the defensive end, as she had a total of 25 steals and five blocks. The Mercury rookie knocked down her share of 3-pointers as well, as she made 28. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_2wmubky9e\">The Mercury found some <a class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_k0tslj\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/wnba\/mercury\/phoenix-diana-taurasi-cappie-pondexter-brittney-griner-monique-akoa-makani\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">solid rookies,<\/a> and they all have their strengths. Monique Akoa Makani did well as one of Phoenix&#8217;s starters, and she was doing an array of things. She was facilitating, she was defending and she could score when it was needed. Held can knock down shots and provide a spark off the bench. Kitija Laksa is also a shooter, and Westbeld was hustling and contributing as a starter. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\" alt=\"Lexie Hel\" title=\"Lexie Hel\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) and Mercury guard Lexie Held (1) battle for a loose ball at PHX Arena in Phoenix on Aug. 7, 2025. \/ Patrick Breen\/The Republic \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_cekleetfw\">Phoenix came close to winning a championship, and come next season, the Mercury&#8217;s stars can help them reach the WNBA Finals once again. Then, with a year under their belt, players like Held and Laksa may play a bigger role next season. Held is off to a good start in her career, and as she continues her journey, she will contribute even more. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_4w2v7bazy\">Please follow us on X to read more about Lexi Held and her time with the Mercury when you click right <a class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_k0tslj\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MercuryOnSI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lexi Held joined the Phoenix Mercury this season, and like Kathryn Westbeld, she went undrafted. Westbeld went undrafted&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-273382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}