PHOENIX – The Western Conference-leading Minnesota Lynx proved why they are a force to be reckoned with in the WNBA, but a mix of turnovers, offensive woes and controversial officiating doomed the Phoenix Mercury.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Kayla McBride led all players with 19 points, Courtney Williams pitched in with 16 and the Lynx (23-8) surpassed the Connecticut Sun for second in the WNBA with a 89-76 win on Wednesday night. Diana Taurasi finished with 16 points and Kahleah Copper had 13 in the Mercury’s (16-16) loss.
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
Setting a season-high 22 turnovers in their loss to the New York Liberty, a couple of days later the Mercury’s issues still persisted when in possession.
Giving away the ball eight times in the first quarter on Monday, Phoenix did so 10 times in the first 10 minutes against the Lynx. Off of the Mercury’s turnovers, 18 of the 25 points scored by Minnesota were conceded off of them in the period. They totaled 19 overall.
“Offensively, we are trying to find a rhythm and we don’t have it right now,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. “Turning over 10 times against a team like this makes it tough.”
As the second-best team in the WNBA in field goal percentage (44.9%) and 3-pointers made (314) coming in, the Lynx exemplified why they are close to the top in not just those stats, but being second in the WNBA standings as well.
Minnesota shot 16-for-34 (47.1%) from the field and was firing at a 46.2% clip from three in the first half. The Lynx finished 33-for-72 (45.8%) overall and 11-for-26 (42.3%) from behind the arch on the night.
After starting for the past six games, Cunningham moved to the bench to make way for Monique Billings’ first start as a Mercury. Even though her role was changed, Cunningham came out with a vengeance with 16 points after just three vs. the Liberty.
“Honestly, Mo is awesome,” Cunningham said on how she felt about being dropped to the bench. “I am so happy that she is on our squad. Just an actual four. It’s really nice when you get to rebound, can run and is super athletic. I feel like it was really good rotation-wise. I am doing whatever they need me to do. I don’t get caught up in starting lineups, I don’t care about coming off the bench. Whatever the team needs, that’s what I want to do. Especially with the lineup Minnesota had, that made sense.”
2nd half spiraled out of control for Mercury
Coming out for the second half, the Lynx dominated and the Mercury were left distraught.
Courtesy of multiple contributors, Minnesota collectively went on a 23-9 run to grow their lead up to 19 in the third quarter, 71-52.
After the Mercury were already frustrated with how the the loss panned out against the Liberty, the matchup with the Lynx was arguably worse. Fouls were flying left and right, with some obvious that weren’t called and others that had minor contact were.
Some of the Mercury players’ faces were visibly disappointed when they made mistakes and foul calls they were charged with while the Lynx were scoring at will.
Emotions elevated even further when Myisha Hines-Allen used her physicality to strip Taurasi from the ball before Taurasi fell. A couple of seconds later, both players went face-to-face to each other until Taurasi walked away. Even though it looked as if Hines-Allen was going to receive a foul, it was Natasha Mack who was charged with an offensive infraction outside of the play.
Frustrated with what the officials were calling, Cunningham later received two technical fouls and was ejected after the second one in the fourth quarter. Tibbetts also received a technical foul earlier in the game.
“There is so much we can’t control as players and maybe I can control my emotions a little bit more, but honestly I didn’t want to,” Cunningham said when giving her thoughts on her ejection. “Sometimes a team needs that… It’s a good question for the players association to see the ref situation and how we can be better moving forward. As a group, we get fined for a lot of stuff but I think they need to be held accountable too.
“Coach got one which fired us up a little bit. Sometimes we just need a spark under our butts. We are in a rut right now, that is no secret. Everyone can see it, but teams go through that and I think that you embrace it, you find light in that, you find ways to be better for one another and collectively as a team, we’ll come out on the right side of that.”
Here’s Phoenix Mercury’s Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) response to our @AlecCipollini about letting out her emotions and receiving her first ejection.
“Sometimes we need a spark under our butts.”#ValleyTogether #LynxRecognize pic.twitter.com/ee32vsyWNx
— Burn City Mercury (@BurnCityMercury) August 29, 2024
The Mercury did win the fourth quarter 24-18, but the third quarter damage sealed their fate in the victory for the Lynx.
“We’ve got a professional group, they’ve seen it all,” Tibbetts said. “I don’t question our morale, it’s more of we got to get back in the gym, get to work. We haven’t had a great, five-on-five practice since we have been from [the] All-Star [break]. You can tell our offense and our spacing is messed up, there is a lot of things to clean up.”
“There is a lot of things to clean up.”@AlecCipollini asked Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts about he will help the team not let their heads down after two straight losses, anticipating practice on Friday.#ValleyTogether #WNBA #LynxRecognize pic.twitter.com/rP0Ez5gHSc
— Burn City Mercury (@BurnCityMercury) August 29, 2024
Next Games
Mercury: Home vs. Las Vegas Aces (18-12) | Sept. 1 | 1 p.m. PT
Lynx: Away at Dallas Wings (8-22) | Aug. 30 | 4:30 p.m. PT
Mercury trio broke 3 records amidst officiating issues, setting season-high in turnovers
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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
