The Phoenix Mercury (10-18) faced the Golden State Valkyries (19-8) Wednesday night at Mortgage Matchup Center in the first game for both teams following the WNBA All-Star break.<\/p>\n
The All-Star Game saw Mercury guard Kahleah Copper and Valkyries forward Gabby Williams play together on the same team. However, Williams was ruled out Wednesday due to reconditioning, leaving Golden State to battle without its All-Star.<\/p>\n
Phoenix was led in scoring by Copper, who finished with 27 points while the Valkyries relied on Zandalasini as she netted 16 points.<\/p>\n
Before tipoff, Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said he hoped to keep the team focused heading into the second half of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t look too far ahead, each game matters for us right now and tonight\u2019s the most important part of that stretch,\u201d Tibbetts said.<\/p>\n
The game got off to a defensive start, with the Valkyries missing seven of their first eight shots from the court.<\/p>\n
Alyssa Thomas opened the scoring with a layup before adding an early block on the defensive end to help Phoenix establish the tempo.<\/p>\n
DeWanna Bonner provided the early spark offensively, scoring eight straight points on two free throws and back-to-back three-pointers to give the Mercury a 16-13 lead.<\/p>\n
Golden State found a groove with Veronica Burton, but Phoenix pushed through carrying a 21-18 lead heading into the second quarter.<\/p>\n
The momentum shifted midway through the second.<\/p>\n
After Kahleah Copper knocked down back-to-back threes to extend Phoenix\u2019s lead to 31-25, the Valkyries answered with a barrage from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n
Cecilia Zandalasini and Kayla Thornton led a run that saw Golden State connect on five three-pointers in the final three minutes of the half, turning a six-point deficit into a 46-34 halftime lead.<\/p>\n
The Mercury\u2019s eight first-half turnovers proved costly, as they led to 12 of the Valkyries points.<\/p>\n
Golden State continued to hold control through much of the third quarter, stretching its lead to as many as 13 points after a deep three-pointer from Janelle Sala\u00fcn made it 61-48.<\/p>\n
Phoenix refused to go away quietly.<\/p>\n
Copper answered with an and-one, followed by a layup and a three-pointer to trim the deficit before Emily Ayayi converted three free throws late in the quarter.<\/p>\n
Although the Valkyries still led 66-60 entering the fourth, the momentum had begun to shift.<\/p>\n
Natasha Mack ignited the comeback to begin the final quarter, scoring on back-to-back possessions before the Mercury locked in defensively.<\/p>\n
Thomas converted an and-one to pull Phoenix within two. Mack would then strip Veronica Burton, leading to an Ayayi fast-break layup that tied the game at 71.<\/p>\n
Thomas then gave the Mercury their first lead since the second quarter, while Bonner made several key defensive plays, including a late block and a crucial stop in the paint to protect Phoenix\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n
The final few minutes were filled with drama.<\/p>\n
Copper fouled out with less than two minutes remaining, and Thornton knocked down a corner three to tie the game at 82.<\/p>\n
Thomas answered with what proved to be the biggest basket of the night, and despite Golden State repeatedly cutting the deficit to one possession at the free-throw line, Bonner came up with a late forced turnover before calmly stepping to the stripe in the closing seconds.<\/p>\n
Phoenix escaped with a 91-89 victory, earning its third straight win heading into the remainder of the second half of the season.<\/p>\n
Phoenix\u2019s comeback started on the defensive end, something Kahleah Copper said has become the team\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to guard,\u201d Copper said. \u201cThat\u2019s the one thing we can control. We can\u2019t control if shots are falling or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mercury\u2019s defense held Golden State in check during the fourth quarter while Phoenix erased a double-digit deficit.<\/p>\n
Natasha Mack provided a spark off the bench, Thomas took over offensively, and Bonner delivered several key defensive plays in the closing minutes.<\/p>\n
Thomas said the Mercury\u2019s larger lineup allowed her to take on more responsibility as the primary ball handler before looking for her own offense late.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to the big lineup, so that was a lot of point guard for me,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cI just found my moments to score. I felt like the fourth quarter was my time to score.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alyssa Thomas finished with 25 points, 8 assists, and 9 rebounds.<\/p>\n
Head coach Nate Tibbetts praised Thomas\u2019 all-around performance after the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas was fabulous tonight,\u201d Tibbetts said. \u201cWe need that version of her. That\u2019s when we\u2019re at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n
The victory moved Phoenix to 11-18 and extended its winning streak to three games, giving the Mercury momentum as they begin the second half of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want to take it one game at a time, and we know what the ultimate goal is,\u201d Copper said.<\/p>\n
Thomas echoed those thoughts as the Mercury continue their playoff push.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a do-or-die time for us,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do everything we can to win ball games.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Mercury (10-18) faced the Golden State Valkyries (19-8) Wednesday night at Mortgage Matchup Center in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-793520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793520","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=793520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}