By Scott Mammoser
PHOENIX – Tina Charles pulled in a double-double of 23
points and 12 rebounds, and Kia Nurse scored 26 points, as the New York Liberty
returned to .500 at 7-7 after Friday’s 80-76 win at the Phoenix Mercury (5-6).
Brittney Griner led the Mercury with 30 points and eight rebounds, while
Leilani Mitchell added 14 points.
“That was not our best game,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello
said. “BG (Griner) was fantastic, but we just didn’t have enough contributors
tonight. We didn’t execute as well as we wanted to, and that’s what happens
when you’re not ready to play. That’s the greatness of the WNBA; anybody can
beat anybody.”
The Mercury went up by as much as 17-4 in the first quarter,
but the short-benched Liberty soon found the bottom of the basket.
Nurse knotted the game at 36-36, with 1:35 remaining in the
first half. Essence Carson responded with a three for the Mercury, but Nurse
answered with one of her own on the other end. Phoenix led 41-40 at the break,
with Griner recording 10 of her points in the second.
Charles gave New York its first lead shortly after halftime,
and the third quarter was a tightly-contested affair. Again, the Mercury led by
one, 64-63, after the period, although Charles scored nine. The Liberty
outscored Phoenix 17-12 in the fourth, with Reshanda Gray and Brittany Boyd,
the former Cal stars, making big plays in the final minute.
The Liberty had four players missing from its lineup, who
were playing in EuroBasket, as opposed to Phoenix’s one – Yvonne Turner.
Turner’s Hungarian team plays Belgium on Saturday with the winner earning a
spot in next year’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Sophie Cunningham started the first game of her WNBA career
for the Mercury and notched personal bests in rebounds and assists of six and
three. Brondello said Cunningham started because Carson’s back was bothering
her.
“I’m just going to stay ready,” said Cunningham, who had 12
family members from Missouri in the audience. “I’m very lucky to have them here,
for my first career start; I had no idea that I would have that.”
The Mercury’s next game is at 3 p.m. on Sunday versus
Atlanta, while New York will play Las Vegas at home, the same time.
