Photo: “Brittney Griner” by Lorie Shaull is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Phoenix Mercury earned their fourth straight win on Thursday night as the team beat the Chicago Sky 96-86.
Related:Hartley Scores A Career-High 27 Points In Mercury’s Dominating 96-67 Win Vs The Liberty
The leading scorers for the Mercury were Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner which both of them scored 22 points in the win.
Two other Mercury players would hit double figures in points in the game which they were Skylar Diggins-Smith (17) and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (17).
Phoenix had the advantage in blocks shots for the game as the team had seven and the Sky had four.
The Mercury also had the advantage of shooting as well, as the team shot 52.5% (32-61) and Chicago shot 45.7% (32 – 70). Phoenix also had the advantage over the Sky at the three-point line as the team shot 52.6% (10 – 19) and Chicago shot 37.5 (9-24). The Mercury also bested the Sky at the foul line with the team shooting 84.6 % (22-26) and with Chicago shooting 81.3 % (13-16).
The leading scorer for the Sky in this game was Courtney Vandersloot as she had 21 points.
Two other Chicago players would hit double figures in points in the game which they were Kahleah Copper (18) and Allie Quigley (13).
Phoenix Leads By 14 At The End Of The First
The game started with the Chicago Sky outscoring Phoenix 12-5 in the first four minutes of the quarter. The keys to Chicago’s run were Courtney Vandersloot scoring four points and the team made two three-point shots ( Allie Quigley and Cheyenne Parker).
The Mercury would fire back seconds later with a 16-4 run of the own which gave the team a 21-16 lead with 2:14 left in the quarter. The duo of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi scored 11 of the 16 points. Phoenix had five rebounds during this run.
The Mercury would outscore the Sky 11-2 for the rest of the first quarter to end with a 32-18 lead. The key to the 11-2 run was Phoenix hit two three-pointers ( Sophie Cunningham and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough) on this drive.
Phoenix had their best shooting percentage of the game in the first quarter with 73.3 % (11-15).
Chicago had their worst shooting percentage of the game in the first quarter with 35.0 % (7-20).
Sky Marches Back But Mercury Still Holds A Six-Point Lead At The Half
In the early minutes of the second quarter, Chicago was fighting their way back into the game as the team went on 10-4 run to cut the lead to eight (36-28) with 6:39 left in the half.
The closest the Sky came to the lead in this quarter was at the 15.3-second mark when the team cut the lead to three points (52-49) which was thanks to Kahleah Copper’s layup shot.
A moment after Chicago scored, the Mercury’s Diana Taurasi would pull up for a halftime ending three-pointer which pushed their lead to 55-49.
Phoenix’s shooting declined in the second quarter as the team shot 47.1 % (8-17).
The Sky had their best shooting percentage of the game in the second quarter with 66.7 % (10-15).
Courtney Vandersloot was the leading scorer in the first half for Chicago as she had 15 points.
Skylar Diggins-Smith was the leading scorer in the first half for the Mercury as she had 15 points.
Phoenix Leads By 13 After Three Quarters
It did not take very long for the Mercury to push their lead back to double-digits as
Diana Taurasi made a jump shot and Brittney Griner had a layup go in to give their team a 10 point lead (59-49) with 8:59 left in the quarter.
The Sky would continue to fight as the team went on a 10-1 run to cut the lead to one point with 5:34 (60-59) left in the third. The keys to this drive were Chicago made two shots from downtown (Diamond DeShields and Courtney Vandersloot) and the team had seven rebounds.
The Mercury did not stress over the Sky’s run as the team scored eight unanswered points in the following minutes to take a 68-59 lead with 4:29 left in the quarter.
Phoenix showed no mercy for Chicago for the rest of the quarter as the team went on 16-6 run to take an 86-70 lead after three quarters. The key to this run was the Mercury made three shots from downtown ( Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Alanna Smith, and Diana Taurasi).
Phoenix’s shooting improved in the third quarter as the team shot 50.0 % (9-18).
The Sky’s shooting dipped in the third quarter as the team shot 43.8 % (7-16).
Mercury Take A 10 Point Win
At the 6:04 minute mark in the fourth quarter, Phoenix would score six unanswered points to extend their lead to 17 points (91-74) with 5:03 left in the game. Four of the points on the run came from the foul line. One was a technical foul shot as Chicago’s coach James Wade was called for a technical.
The Sky was hanging in this game as at the 4:27 minute mark the team would go on a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 10 points (93-83) with 1:54 left in the game. Chicago was able to force the Mercury into two turnovers during that run.
Phoenix would close out the game with hitting three foul shots which sealed a 96-86 win.
The Sky’s coach would be ejected from the game in the remaining minutes of the quarter.
The Mercury had their worst shooting percentage of the game in the fourth quarter with 36.4 % (4-11).
Chicago had a shooting percentage of 42.1 % (8-19) in the fourth quarter.
Stats:
FG%: CHI 45.7% & PHX52.5%
3P%: CHI37.5%&PHX52.6%
FT%: CHI81.3%&PHX84.6%
Rebs: CHI34& PHX27
Ast: CHI 19&PHX17
Stl: CHI12& PHX8
TO: CHI19&PHX21
Blks: CHI4 &PHX 7
Outside the First State 