Alyssa Thomas came through with her fifth triple-double of the season — collecting 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds — as the visiting Phoenix Mercury snapped a two-game losing streak with an 85-82 victory over the Seattle Storm on Sunday.
Kahleah Copper poured in 17 points while Sami Whitcomb hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points as the Mercury (20-13) survived a furious rally attempt by the Storm (17-18).
Satou Sabally and DeWanna Bonner added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as Phoenix held on despite Seattle getting within 83-82 after a layup by Brittney Sykes with 8.4 seconds remaining.
Two free throws by Whitcomb made it 85-82 with 2.9 seconds left. The Storm had a chance to force overtime but Erica Wheeler missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
Seattle, which was searching for its second straight win but has now lost seven of eight, was led by Nneka Ogwumike’s 24 points and eight boards.
Skylar Diggins (14), Gabby Williams (13) and Sykes (11) also scored in double figures for the Storm, which lost despite racking up 22 points off turnovers and holding a 56-38 scoring advantage in the paint.
It was Forever Sue day in Seattle as the Storm unveiled a statue for Sue Bird, a four-time WNBA champion.
The Mercury went into the fourth quarter with a 67-60 advantage — but things soon got interesting.
Ogwumike snagged a rebound off a miss by Williams and put it back up to tie the score at 75-75 with 3:57 left.
Wheeler gave Seattle its first lead of the day, swishing home a 3-pointer with a defender on her, as the Storm went up 78-77 at the 2:21 mark.
Back-to-back layups by Copper put the Mercury back in front 81-78 with 53.3 to play.
Down 43-37 at halftime, the Storm kept it close in the third and were only down 60-58 after Williams spun in the lane and threw up a reverse layup with 2:39 left in period.
Trailing 62-60, Ogwumike had a chance to put Seattle on top, but her 3-pointer with 50.7 seconds to go in the third was off the mark. Phoenix took advantage, with Kathryn Westbeld drilling a 3-pointer to stake the Mercury to a 65-60 advantage.
Phoenix grabbed early momentum with an 8-0 run to open the contest, taking a 10-2 lead on a jumper by Thomas at the 6:48 mark of the first quarter.
But the Storm surged back, closing the first quarter on a 6-0 run that was punctuated on a short shot by Ogwumike with 24.4 seconds remaining that cut the lead to 20-17.
Whitcomb buried two big 3-pointers in the final minute of the second quarter, the last with 23.9 remaining for a 43-34 lead. Ogwumike, though, answered with one of her own to slice the Mercury lead to six points at the break.
The Mercury shot 8-of-26 from beyond the arc while holding the Storm to a 4-of-22 showing from distance. With the win, Phoenix salvaged a split of its four-game season series with Seattle.
–Field Level Media
