The Mercury committed 17 turnovers and blew a 15-point lead in their final preseason game.
Turnovers and a poor shooting night sunk the Phoenix Mercury (0-2 preseason) in their 84-79 loss against the visiting Golden State Valkyries (1-1) Sunday afternoon at PHX Arena.
The Mercury shot 26-of-64 from the field (40.6%) and committed 18 turnovers that led to 32 Golden State points in the loss.
Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas, two members of the Phoenix ‘Big 3,’ each had 15 points. Neither player entered the game in the fourth quarter after the Mercury surrendered a 22-7 third-quarter run and lost a lead as large as 15.
Phoenix is off for five days before it opens its regular season Saturday against former guard Skylar Diggins and the Seattle Storm.
Here is how the game played out.
First Quarter
Phoenix’s offense will be heavily reliant on Sabally, who had four 3-pointers in the loss, Thomas and Kahleah Copper. Copper, who averaged the third-most points in the WNBA this past season, missed the game with a back injury.
Phoenix trailed 15-14 after the first quarter, struggling to find scoring outside of Thomas, who had six points. Sabally and starting center Natasha Mack each contributed three points.
Alyssa Thomas: 6 PTS (2-of-5 FG), 4 REB, 1 AST
Satou Sabally: 3 PTS, 3 REB
Natasha Mack: 3 PTS, 3 REBKayla Thornton: 9 PTS (3-of-7 FG), 3 REB
Both teams are struggling on offense. The Mercury were 5-of-18 and missed six of their seven 3s. Golden State is shooting 6-of-20…
— Trevor Booth (@TrevorMBooth) May 11, 2025
Second Quarter
Sabally’s nickname is the “Unicorn” because of her guard-like skillset at 6-foot-4. She showed she is going to be very capable for Phoenix in the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop actions.
Her nine second-quarter points led the Mercury, who scored ten straight points to take a 24-18 lead and led at halftime by seven.
Here are some highlights from the period:
Third Quarter
After they led by 15 points, Phoenix surrendered a 22-7 run and watched Valkyries guard Migna Toure score nine of her 19 points in the third. Golden State also was 7-of-14 from deep.
Fourth Quarter
No matter how hard the Mercury fought, they could not overcome Golden State’s offense in their eventual defeat.
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