Mercury Outlast Storm 85-82

Seattle has lost seven of their last eight games.

(Seattle, WA) - For every rally and moment the Seattle Storm (17-18) had, the Phoenix Mercury (20-13) had an answer. Phoenix led almost wire-to-wire, knocking down several key shots throughout the game whenever Seattle threatened to take a lead. The Storm took a one-point lead with 2:21 left in the game. The Mercury out-executed Seattle down the stretch. They used a 6-0 run to take a five-point advantage that they never relinquished. Phoenix escaped Seattle with an 85-82 victory.

The Storm were led by Nneka Ogwumike on Sunday afternoon. She finished with 24 points and eight rebounds. Skylar Diggins added 14 points, but scored just four points in the 2nd half. Gabby Williams had 13 points and a team-high seven assists. Brittney Sykes rounded out the group with 11 points and four assists.

On the positive side, Seattle did a good job of protecting the ball. They forced the Mercury into 19 turnovers while committing just 12 on their end. They also had a stunning 22-0 advantage in points off turnovers. The Storm also dominated inside the paint, outscoring the Mercury 56-38. They also had a 14-10 edge in fast break points. Despite those advantages, they really struggled with their shot in the first half. They shot under 40% through the first 20 minutes of the game.

With the loss, Seattle falls under .500 again. The Washington Mystics (16-18) defeated the Los Angeles Sparks (16-18) earlier in the day, so the Storm remain 1/2 game ahead of LA for the 8th and final playoff spot. Seattle missed an opportunity to create some separation in the standings.

Phoenix Mercury

Alyssa Thomas, like the machine that she is, put forth another triple-double performance. It was her 5th triple-double of the season. Thomas finished with a team-high 19 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. She also had three steals. But Thomas wasn’t alone. The Mercury got contributions from several players. They had five players score in double figures.

Kahleah Copper added 17 points on 7-14 FG and five rebounds. She also scored eight of her 17 points in the 4th quarter. Many of those came in the final two minutes with the game on the line. Sami Whitcomb added 15 points and made 3-7 FG from beyond the arc. Satou Sabally was marred by foul trouble and played just 22 minutes. However, she still had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. DeWanna Bonner provided a spark off the bench and scored 10 points on 50% FG shooting. Kathryn Westbeld added eight more as the Mercury’s reserves outscored Seattle’s bench 21-14.

The Mercury outshot Seattle 48% (31-64 FG) to 47% (34-72 FG), but once again, it was the three-point shot that led to Seattle’s demise. Phoenix made 31% (8-26 FG) compared to Seattle’s 18% (4-22 FG). The main difference was that they doubled Seattle’s made baskets from beyond the arc. Phoenix was +12 from the three-point line and +5 from the free throw line (15 to 10 FTM). The road team also out-rebounded the Storm 34-30.

Game Breakdown

Kahleah Copper scored off the switch. Skylar Diggins got into the paint for a pull-up jumper. Satou Sabally scored in the short corner. Natasha Mack slipped to the rim uncontested for two. Then Alyssa Thomas dribbled down the court, and she muscled her way to the rim. Seattle missed six of their first seven shots. Thomas scored again on a turnaround hook shot. The Mercury’s 8-0 run put them ahead 10-2 and forced Coach Noelle Quinn to call an early timeout.

Out of the timeout, Gabby Williams turned the ball over. Phoenix had a two-on-one fast break, and it looked like another easy basket for the Mercury. However, Brittney Sykes managed to force Thomas to pass the ball off and then stopped Kahleah Copper from making the shot. Skylar then scored at the other end. Seattle used a 7-2 run to cut the deficit down to three at 12-9.

Kathryn Westbeld knocked down a three-pointer. That started another big 8-2 run as the Mercury went ahead 20-11. That was capped off by a three-ball from Lexi Held. Seattle responded with free throws from Skylar Diggins and Dominique Malonga. Nneka Ogwumike scored in the low post. The Storm were able to force a 24-second shot clock violation to end the quarter. Phoenix led 20-17 at the end of the first.

Satou Sabally was fouled and made both free throws to start the second quarter. Brittney Sykes got to the rim for two. Nneka got past Thomas on the baseline. “The Engine” countered with back-to-back spin layups. The second was an AND1. Sykes got a steal and got past Copper for the layup. Thomas got past Seattle’s defense and was fouled.

Skylar was fouled and split the two free throws. Ogwumike scored in transition after Gabby got the steal. DeWanna Bonner countered with a deep two in the corner. Diggins got to the rim to cut the Mercury’s lead down to three at 31-28. After Diggins split another two free throws, Bonner hit another shot. And then another by DB to push the Mercury’s lead back up to six.

Sami Whitcomb was fouled and made both free throws. Ogwumike scored on a nice step-through against Thomas. Whitcomb countered with two made triples to push them ahead by nine. Nneka hit a three on the other end. The Mercury led 43-37 at the midway point. Phoenix outshot Seattle 44% (15-34 FG) to 39% (13-33 FG). They also out-rebounded Seattle 22-16.

Ezi scored in the paint on back-to-back possessions to open the second half. Satou Sabally countered with a three-pointer. Ogwumike scored in the paint. Whitcomb knocked down her third three-pointer. Diggins got to the rim for two. Alyssa Thomas muscled her way to the rim again. Magbegor missed a three-pointer, then Copper hit one in transition to push the Mercury’s lead to 56-49. Coach Quinn was forced to call another timeout.

After Malonga scored down in the paint, Thomas made another AND1. Erica Wheeler made a three. Alyssa was fouled and split the two free throws. Gabby made back-to-back baskets to cut the Storm’s deficit down to two. Westbeld hit a corner three after Seattle missed one on the other end. Skylar fouled Whitcomb. Sami made both. The Mercury led 67-60 at the end of the third.

Nneka found Skylar cutting to the rim for two. Bonner got the mismatch down low for the easy basket. Ogwumike then with an AND1. Westbeld hit a difficult bank shot. Sykes found Williams cutting to the rim. Brittney knocked down a pull-up deep two, cutting Phoenix’s lead down to two. Kahleah Copper used a strong drive down the left lane for another score.

Erica Wheeler missed a three, but Ezi got the offensive rebound and Wheeler hit that one. Sykes made a speedy drive past the defense for the layup. Seattle then forced a steal against Whitcomb, Williams missed the initial shot, but Ogwumike was there to clean it up and tie the game at 75-75. That forced Mercury Coach Nate Tibbetts to call a timeout.

Copper scored quickly out of the break. Wheeler knocked down a three-pointer to give the Storm their first lead of the game. Erica had another look at a triple, but missed. EW had a drive but lost control of the ball, and that led to a 3-on-2 fast break for Phoenix that resulted in a wide-open layup for Kahleah. Skylar missed her drive at the rim. The Mercury got out in transition again, and Copper drove down the baseline for two. Alyssa Thomas scored off the backboard to sink the Storm’s hopes of winning.

Seattle made it interesting despite some last-minute chaos. Nneka scored, but the ref blew the whistle to give the Mercury a timeout. The problem was that Skylar had knocked the ball out of Sabally’s hands before Coach Tibbetts called for the timeout. Thankfully, the refs correctly reviewed the entire play and counted Ogwumike’s basket, which technically occurred after the whistle. On the next possession, Brittney Sykes stole the inbounds pass and raced to the hoop for the layup. That cut the Mercury’s lead to one at 83-82 with eight seconds left in the game. The Storm weren’t in the bonus, and so they were forced to foul twice. Sami Whitcomb made both free throws. Seattle used their reset timeout, but had horrible execution that saw Wheeler throw the ball up without facing the basket. It was badly missed, and the Mercury escaped with an 85-82 win.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (17-18) head out on a five-game road trip. First up is the Chicago Sky (8-25) on Tuesday, August 19th at 5:00 PM PT. The Storm won the first matchup 95-57.

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional thoughts and discussion from Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Mercury. It’ll be sent exclusively to paid subscribers.

Notes:
Share your thoughts on this game in the comments below!
Thanks for all the great support! Please share my coverage with other WNBA fans. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources.
Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography