PHOENIX – Despite a historic night of accomplishments by multiple Phoenix Mercury players, Breanna Stewart shined with 21 points as the New York Liberty won 84-70 on Monday night.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Courtney Vandersloot scored 16 points, Jonquel Jones added 15 and Sabrina Ionescu got going in the second half and finished with 13 for the No. 1 seeded Liberty (26-5). New York shot 41.4% from both the field and from three in the game.
Brittney Griner led the Mercury (16-15) in scoring with 22 points, Natasha Cloud had 18 and Kahleah Copper got 14. Cloud surpassed Diana Taurasi for most assists by a Mercury player in a single season ever, 198.
Taurasi, Griner broke records in first half
Returning home to begin a five-game home stand at Footprint Center, the Mercury started sluggish by turning the ball over eight times. While the Liberty wasn’t much better with six turnovers, they capitalized on the Mercury’s mistakes and led 18-9 in the first quarter.
Just 14 seconds into the second quarter, Taurasi clinched yet another milestone in her decorated career.
By assisting on a mid-range shot by Griner, she surpassed Lindsay Whalen (2,348 assists) for fourth all-time in WNBA history. Only Sue Bird (3,234), Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot (2,805) and Ticha Penicheiro (2,600) have more than Taurasi.
Not only did that shot leave a mark league-wide, but the momentum quickly shifted into the Mercury’s favor off of it as they went on a 13-2 run and cut the deficit to just one, 23-22. Taurasi would score a 3-pointer just before halftime to tie the game up, 38-38.
Seeing her longtime teammate Taurasi achieve a major accomplishment, Griner responded in her own way with the 800th block of her career. Tracking back Stewart as she was driving into the paint, Griner rejected Stewart’s layup attempt to reach the feat. She is behind just Margo Dydek (877) and Lisa Leslie (822) on the all-time blocks leaderboard.
“She does it year after year,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “Tonight was tough for her because Jones could shoot it. She had a couple big time blocks, and we need that rim protection from her.”
After being out since July 6 with a right knee injury, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton returned and made her first appearance off of the bench this season. Starting in 18 games before her absence, the Philadelphia native checked in as a sub, posting nine points, three steals and three assists.
Questionable officiating, turnovers galore take over game
Persisting throughout the game, Phoenix was unable to lessen the amount of giveaways. Even though they tried to key in on an open player, the Mercury conceded 28 points off of a season-high 22 turnovers and the Liberty amassed 12 steals.
“Obviously 22 turnovers is way too many,” Tibbetts said. It’s kind of uncharacteristic of how we’ve been taking care of the basketball. Against an offensive team like this and a good defensive team, that’s too many opportunities to give them.”
“It’s uncharacteristic of how we take care of the basketball.”
Our @AlecCipollini asked Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts about what happened which caused a season-high 22 turnovers and allowing 28 points off of them.#ValleyTogether #WNBA #LightItUpNYL pic.twitter.com/4UWHBTjqnK
— Burn City Mercury (@BurnCityMercury) August 27, 2024
While the Mercury’s turnovers were one of the sticking points of the loss, the officiating was called under question arguably even more.
Instances like Sophie Cunningham getting all of the ball when she blocked a shot by Jonquel Jones and receiving a foul. Tibbetts called for a few official reviews and was unsuccessful. Taurasi was seen distraught over what was going on as the whistles were blown, repeatedly jawing at the referees and letting them know her thoughts on what they were doing.
Throughout the entirety of the game, Phoenix was only awarded four free throws compared to 16 towards New York.
“We only had four free throw attempts, it’s kind of hard to win games [with that],” Cloud said. “They shot 16 free throw attempts, we shot four. It’s just not adding up, and everyone wants to know why the Phoenix Mercury has the most techs [technical fouls] in the league. It’s because the games are not being called equally on both ends of the floor.”
With controversial calls on them throughout the game and only getting 4 free throws the whole game, Phoenix Mercury star Natasha Cloud (@T_Cloud4) was irate and demands change to the officiating.#ValleyTogether #WNBA #LighItUpNYL pic.twitter.com/4wGUQZNzLQ
— Burn City Mercury (@BurnCityMercury) August 27, 2024
With nine games to go in the regular season before the playoffs, the league is getting into crunch time with every game mattering from here on out.
Even though they believe things didn’t go their way, Griner wants the Mercury to go back to the drawing board and push this game behind them.
“This is the best league and each game is going to be tough,” Griner said. “Just being able to refocus and lock back in… Everything that is happening to us is just getting us prepared for the playoffs.”
Next Games
Mercury: Home vs. Minnesota Lynx (22-8) | Aug. 28 | 7 p.m. PT
Liberty: Away at Los Angeles Sparks (6-24) | Aug. 28 | 7 p.m. PT
Monique Billings excited to remain with Mercury after signing new contract, ‘It’s a blessing’
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, the Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
