The first half comes to a close as the Mercury lead the Lynx by a score of. The Mercury made 10 first-half threes and shot an absurd 64% from the floor. The Lynx on the other hand shot 42% from the floor but only hit 1 of their 10 threes.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!One of the Achilles heels of the Mercury is that they have 11 first-half turnovers. Take those out and it would be a bigger lead.
Here’s a quarter breakdown of everything that happened in the first half.
First Quarter
In the first quarter, the Mercury played a great brand of basketball with pace and toughness. They shot 83 % from three and 63% overall in the quarter while dropping 27 points.
Diana Taurasi was awesome as she led the quarter with 9 points on efficient shooting. Sophie Cunningham also had 5 quick points before she got hit with two early fouls and had to sit out the rest of the quarter.
Mercury are going stupid from three tonight starting off 3-4. Diana Taurasi's three has her 273 points away from 10K career points. The Mercury are playing with a lot of pace early and often.#ValleyTogether#WNBA
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) May 26, 2023
Britney Griner had a quiet first quarter as she only had 1 one point to begin the game and was getting double-teamed left and right.
Sug Sutton was cooking off the bench with 6 points while hitting one of the Mercury’s 5 threes. The Mercury however shot themselves in the foot with 7 first-quarter turnovers but they ended up leading the way 28-17.
That's the end of the first quarter with the Mercury up 27-18. The Mercury are shooting 63% from the floor and 83% from three. They're outshooting the Lynx at the free throw line by 5 but the only blemish is they have 7 turnovers.#ValleyTogether📷 #WNBA📷
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) May 26, 2023
Second Quarter
The Mercury continued their lead into the second quarter as they outscored the Lynx 30-22. Diana Taurasi is continuing to have a crazy good game as she is now up to 15 points for the game. She leads the way with a +27.
Make that 8-9 now with Diana Taurasi's made three. The Mercury are up now 38-22 and are now shooting 73% as a team. https://t.co/SqftdcXa8H
— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) May 26, 2023
Point guard Moriah Jefferson is up to 13 points after only having 3 in the first quarter. She’s shooting 5-8 from the floor and is playing with great pace.
Sophie Cunningham and Michaela Onyenwere are in foul trouble early with 3 fouls each but both have combined for 14 points each. Brintey Griner got it going a little as she’s now up to 7 points and 4 rebounds.
The Lynx made their 1 and only three-pointer in the half and are winning the points in the paint battle. Aerial Powers off the bench have given them a spark with 12 points as she leads the team.
The second-half tip-off is coming up shortly.
