Taurasi’s early ejection opens door for Moore to punish Mercury with 38 points in Lynx win

By Scott Mammoser

PHOENIX- What began as a classic shootout between Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi, turned into pure havoc on Saturday night. Taurasi was ejected with her second technical foul in the mid-second quarter, and security was required to escort her off the court. In response, the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury, 80-75, in a 43-foul slugfest.

Havoc and ejections led to Lynx win over Mercury 80-75.

The defending champions improved to 14-10, and the Mercury fell to 15-10, as the slimmest of margins now separates the second through seventh seeds in the playoff race. The Lynx has now won nine-consecutive regular season matchups with the Mercury.

“We had stops when we needed to and stayed poised on offense,” said Moore, whose 38 points came on 12-of-28 shooting. “I come in and do whatever I can and stay focused with whatever is needed. We needed every single play, and games are won like that.”

At the end of the first quarter, Moore (18) and Taurasi (12) were outscoring all other players 30-11 and basking in the limelight that occurs when two of the WNBA’s marquee teams collide. Following the Taurasi ejection, DeWanna Bonner responded with 13 points in the second quarter and concluded with 29 in the game. Bonner cut a once 15-point lead to three with three minutes on the clock.

Stephanie Talbot, averaging 1.5 points per game, stole an inbounds pass with 1:10 to play to bring the Mercury within one. Talbot scored 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the increased amount of minutes. Danielle Robinson, the Mercury’s point guard of last season, answered right back, and Minnesota closed the deal.

“We’re very proud of her,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said of Talbot. “She hasn’t played much all season long. She stepped up and grabbed the opportunity presented to her, with Leilani (Mitchell) not being here (personal reasons), she played the game and was aggressive in the front court. You see what she did. That’s what we need. It’s great to get her going, but we need everybody on the bench.”

In total, the entourage of future Hall of Famers was whistled endlessly. Besides Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles was ejected with six in the third quarter, Brittney Griner had five fouls, Rebekkah Brunson four and Lindsay Whalen three in eight minutes.

Robinson scored 16 for the Lynx, Seimone Augustus had 15 points, and Brunson added to her career league record with 11 rebounds.

The Mercury will face the Chicago Sky at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, while the Lynx hosts the Liberty at 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday night. Minneapolis also plays host to the All-Star Game at 12:30 p.m. PT on July 28, televised on ABC.

Aces hand Mercury fourth loss in past five games

By Scott Mammoser

PHOENIX- The Las Vegas Aces are continuing to grow up as the WNBA season progresses. Kayla McBride scored 27, while A’ja Wilson pulled in 18 points and 12 rebounds, as the Aces won at the Phoenix Mercury, 85-82, on Thursday night. Diana Taurasi, who won her first national title at UConn while Wilson was in kindergarten, scored a game-high 33 points for Phoenix.

Mercury's turnovers cost them in loss to Aces

“We need to compete against every team in the WNBA,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “This is a good team. We prepared and had good energy yesterday, but we didn’t bring our energy for the start of the game. You need to do it for 40 minutes. We shot ourselves in the foot. We lost that game because of turnovers (16-10, allowing 25 points opposed to nine). We would get back in, then give it right back to them for a layup.”

The Aces led by as many as 13 in the early third quarter. Taurasi’s three cut the deficit to 79-77, then 83-82 with 1:07 to play. After an offensive foul, the Mercury had a chance in the paint, but two offensive rebounds could not fall through the hoop. Wilson extended the lead for the Aces, who improved to 11-13, while Phoenix fell to 15-9.

“We need to be more aggressive,” Taurasi said. “When we are passive, it gives the other team an opportunity. They (the Aces) are getting contributions from a lot of players.”

Brittney Griner recorded a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, DeWanna Bonner scored 13, and Angel Robinson grabbed 11 rebounds for the Mercury.

“We are just trying to win the game,” added Mercury guard Leilani Mitchell, who was 2-of-4 from downtown. “Whether it’s scoring or creating positive energy, we are just trying to win the game. It’s a tight race at the top of the ladder, so every game is important.”

Mercury dropped 3 out of 4 on road, glad to be home.

The Mercury is happy to be back in Phoenix after dropping three of four on its road trip. Plus, the players can get comfortable, with nine of the final 11 regular season games being played at Talking Stick Resort Arena, its next being at 7 p.m. on Saturday against the Lynx. The only road swing consists of the one-hour flights to Los Vegas and Los Angeles on Aug. 1 and 5.

The Aces found their stride since opening the year 1-8. The team rattled off four-consecutive wins, including one in Minnesota , before losing to the Sparks on Sunday. The next game is July 22 versus Indiana in Las Vegas.

Also announced on Thursday, the team assignments for July 28^th’s All-Star Game in Minneapolis. Taurasi, Griner and Bonner will all play for the team Elena Delle Donne is captaining. Brondello and her staff will lead the side with Candace Parker as captain.

Mercury continues hot streak with win over Sun

By Scott Mammoser

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Mercury showed the Connecticut Sun why it’s the hottest team in the WNBA, never trailing in an 84-77 victory on Thursday night. The Mercury won its fourth straight and for the 12^th time in its past 14 games to retain its position in first place. 

Meanwhile, the Sun fell to 10-8, but still tied with the Washington Mystics with the most wins in the Eastern Conference.

“We were a cohesive unit on both sides of the floor,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “We didn’t execute some of the plays. You have to remember, Angel (Robinson) hasn’t played with BG (Brittney Griner) much, and DB (DeWanna Bonner) hasn’t played much at the four, but we did play parts of the game where we executed well. We were locked in defensively. The last four minutes, they only scored three points, and we have done that all season long.”

Diana Taurasi and Griner, fourth and sixth in the league in scoring, scored 25 and 23 points to lead the Mercury, and Taurasi also passed Hall of Famer Tina Thompson with her 2,631^st career made field goal during the contest.

“We kind of have to ignore it because in this league you can drop two in a row and be in sixth really quickly,” Taurasi said of the team’s current placing. “I’ve been saying all year, you can’t be too high or too low, just roll with the punches and play your best game and be focused.”

Sun rookie guard Lexie Brown cut a lead that was once 15 to a one-possession game with a three in the mid-fourth quarter. Leilani Mitchell answered with a three, only for Brown to respond with another one on the other end. Out of a Phoenix timeout, Morgan Tuck cut the lead to 73-72. DeWanna Bonner, who had 12 points and 13 rebounds, sank a trey from the corner to open a four-point lead that was never approached afterwards.

In the first game since 6-foot-5 starting power forward Sancho Lyttle was lost to the season with a torn ACL, Yvonne Turner entered the starting lineup for the second time in 2018. The 5-foot-10 Turner scored nine points, including a deep three that gave the Mercury its largest lead of the game in the late third quarter.

“We do everything to stay ready for whoever we play,” Turner said. “We’re always ready and come into practice every day to get ready.”

Turner was coming off of career highs in minutes (31), rebounds (nine) and assists (seven) in her past two games.

“We know what Yvonne can do,” Griner said. “She’s getting into her groove.”

Camille Little was also sidelined with an ankle injury, and Coach Brondello said she would return soon. Brondello also added that the team would be in search of a replacement for Lyttle later in the month once the salary cap allows it. Three Sun players tied for the team high with 11 points - Chiney Ogwumike, Rachel Banham and Jasmine Thomas.

The Mercury hits the road for the next four games, beginning at noon PT on Sunday in Atlanta. The next home game is at 7 p.m. on July 19 versus Las Vegas and Rookie of the Year candidate A’ja Wilson. The Sun will be at Las Vegas on Saturday night.

In addition, around the league on Thursday, Rebekkah Brunson grabbed her 3,317^th rebound  to pass Tamika Catchings as the league’s career rebounding leader in the Minnesota Lynx’s 83-72 win over the Los Angeles Sparks.