Mercury

Phoenix Mercury hold off Chicago Sky in overtime in Game 2 to even WNBA Finals

By Elsie A. Dotson 2 months ago

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Mercury rallied in the fourth quarter Wednesday night and Diana Taurasi starred in overtime to edge the Chicago Sky 91-86 and even the WNBA Finals at 1-1.

Game 3 of the best-of-5 series is Friday in Chicago.

Leading 63-57 after the third quarter, the Sky turned back a Mercury charge led by Taurasi on consecutive 3-pointers by Stefanie Dolson and Allie Quigley and appeared to lead 72-65 with 5:57 left.

After a replay review, though, a Diamond DeShields 3-pointer was ruled to be after the shot clock, cutting the Sky lead to four.

Brianna Turner scored on an alley-oop pass from Skylar Diggins-Smith, followed by a Brittney Griner 3-point play, putting the Mercury ahead 70-69 at 4:39.

Brittney Griner, left, had a game-high 29 points and Skylar Diggins-Smith had 13 for the Mercury in their Game 2 win.

Brittney Griner, left, had a game-high 29 points and Skylar Diggins-Smith had 13 for the Mercury in their Game 2 win.

Quigley answered for the Sky with a 3-pointer,

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2021 WNBA Playoffs first-round takeaways: Mercury escape in thriller over Liberty; Sky pull away from Wings

By Elsie A. Dotson 2 months ago

The 2021 WNBA Playoffs got underway on Thursday night with the single-elimination first round, and the second game of the doubleheader between the Phoenix Mercury and New York Liberty was a showcase for this format. After a thrilling, back-and-forth fourth quarter, the Mercury escaped with an 83-82 win thanks to a last-second free throw by Brianna Turner.

Skylar Diggins Smith went for 22 points, four rebounds and five assists, while Brittney Griner added 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. But it was Sophie Cunningham who stole the show, stepping up in the absence of Diana Taurasi to bury six 3-pointers en route to a career-high 21 points. 

The first game of the night was not quite so dramatic. While the Chicago Sky did allow the Dallas Wings to get back in the game in the second half, they pulled away in the fourth quarter to make sure they would

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