Camille Little, Cayla George lead Mercury over Sky

Camille Little scored 19 points, Cayla George had career highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds, and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Chicago Sky 86-80 on Friday night.

Monique Currie hit a 3-pointer to extend Phoenix’s lead to 74-70 and, after Allie Quigley missed a 3, Currie made two free throws for a six-point lead.

On Chicago’s possession with 34.1 seconds left, Courtney Vandersloot missed a layup and got her own rebound but Cappie Pondexter missed another layup. Phoenix’s Danielle Robinson sealed it by making two free throws with 13.6 seconds left for an 82-76 lead.

Currie scored 10 of her 18 points at the free throw line for Phoenix (12-10), which was 29 of 33 at the line compared to Chicago’s eight attempts.

Stefanie Dolson scored a career-high 29 points for Chicago (8-15). Quigley made 4 of 5 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 19 points. Pondexter passed Tamika Catchings for sole possession of sixth in WNBA history with 1,489 assists.

– Associated Press

Phoenix Mercury at Chicago Sky

When: 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Where: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Ill.

Mercury: Phoenix (11-10) is 0-3 without injured center Brittney Griner (knee/ankle), expected out until mid-August, and is on a four-game losing streak overall. The most recent loss was 99-91 in overtime at Atlanta on Tuesday when G Diana Taurasi scored 31 with guards Danielle Robinson and Leilani Mitchell each adding 11. The Mercury beat Chicago 99-91 on June 1 and 86-78 on June 16, with Griner averaging 27.5 points and 11 rebounds. As recipient of the WNBA Cares Community Assist Award for June, Griner is donating $5,000 from State Farm to One-N-Ten, a Phoenix organization serving LGBT youth. The One-N-Ten center recently was damaged in an arson fire. 

Sky: Chicago (8-14) won road games over Seattle and Los Angeles before the All-Star break but lost 93-72 at Connecticut on Tuesday. The Sky return home after five straight on the road for their first home game since July 12. G Allie Quigley won the 3-point contest at the All-Star Game on July 22 and scored 20 against the Sun on Tuesday. Quigley is averaging 16.8 points followed by C Stefanie Dolson at 13.6, G Cappie Pondexter 11.4 and F Tamera Young 10.5. F Jessica Breland and Dolson are the rebounding leaders. 

Mercury fall to Atlanta Dream in overtime

July 25, 2017

ATLANTA – Layshia Clarendon had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists as the Atlanta Dream beat the Phoenix Mercury 99-91 in overtime on Tuesday night.

Clarendon was initially credited with a triple-double but after a league review had two assists taken away. So the WNBA’s most fifth and most recent triple-double still was by Seattle’s Temeka Johnson on July 24, 2014.

Atlanta led 82-77 until Diana Taurasi was fouled on a 3-pointer and made three free throws with 1:44 left in regulation. Taurasi tied it at 82 and gave Phoenix the lead on a step-back jumper with eight seconds left. After a timeout, Brittney Sykes took an inbound pass, curled off a high screen and made a driving layup to tie it at 84.

Atlanta opened overtime on an 11-0 run and cruised.

Sykes scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her first career double-double for Atlanta (10-11). Tiffany Hayes had 19 points, Elizabeth Williams 16 and Sancho Lyttle 14.

Taurasi scored 31 points for Phoenix, which has lost three straight without Brittney Griner.

Sheryl Swoopes is the only player in league history to have a triple-double in regular season and postseason.

– Associated Press

Up next: Phoenix Mercury (11-10) at Chicago Sky (8-14) on Friday, 5:30 p.m. | Full schedule

Phoenix Mercury at Atlanta Dream

When: 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Where: McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta.

Mercury: Phoenix (11-9) is on a season high three-game losing streak that overlaps with losing C Brittney Griner to knee/ankle injuries in the fourth quarter against Minnesota on July 14. Without Griner, the Mercury lost to Minnesota 81-66 on July 16 and at home to Indiana 84-77 on July 19. G Diana Taurasi started in the WNBA All-Star Game on July 22, scoring 12 points for the winning West (130-121), with the rest of the team off to regroup. Griner was ruled out of Tuesday’s game about four hours before tip-off and is not expected back until the middle of August, so the Mercury must have find more scoring balance than against Indiana when Taurasi scored 34 and the next highest was Monique Currie with 12. The Mercury are at Chicago on Friday.

Dream: Atlanta (9-11) lost three of its four games leading into the All-Star break including 89-84 at Phoenix on July 12 before Griner’s injury. Its most recent game was a 100-96 ovetime loss at Washington on July 19 when G Brittney Sykes scored 27 and F Tiffany Hayes 24. Hayes started in the All-Star Games with teammates Layshia Clarendon and Elizabeth Williams also playing for the East. Clarendon had a double-double (14 points/10 assists) with Hayes scoring 12 with five rebounds and four assists.