This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Brittney Griner collected 23 points and seven rebounds to fuel the Phoenix Mercury to a 96-87 road win over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday.
Kahleah Copper supplied 22 points and seven rebounds and Diana Taurasi added 18 points for the Mercury (13-12), who snapped a two-game skid.
Natasha Cloud paired 12 points with 10 assists for Phoenix and finished one rebound shy of a triple-double in her first game in Washington since leaving in free agency.
Myisha Hines-Allen’s 18 points and 12 rebounds led the Mystics (6-19), who lost their second straight game. Julie Vanloo scored 17 points, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had 15 and Ariel Atkins added 14.
The Mercury scored the final 13 points of the third quarter to enter the fourth up with a 71-63 lead.
Washington led 57-49 with 7:12 left in the third after Vanloo’s third 3-pointer of the half capped an 8-0 Mystics run. Phoenix chipped away until Copper’s three-point play pushed the Mercury ahead 64-63 with 1:34 left. Sophie Cunningham supplied six points over Phoenix’s run, including her 3-pointer that sparked the surge at the 2:44 mark.
Washington closed to 74-72 in the fourth quarter on Stefanie Dolson’s trey with 7:45 to play before the visitors pulled away. Copper scored the game’s next six points to power an 8-0 Mercury run, which Cloud capped with a layup that made it 82-72 with 5:09 left.
Phoenix engineered one final spurt after the Mystics pulled within 89-85 at the 2:16 mark. Copper hit a jumper on the Mercury’s next possession and Cunningham followed with a 3-pointer to make it 94-85 with 1:16 to play.
Phoenix made 18 free throws compared to Washington’s 11 and held a 23-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Mystics ended the second quarter on a 14-5 run to lead 46-44 at halftime.
Griner led all scorers with 15 points in the opening half, while Taurasi made 3-of-3 treys and scored 12 points. Atkins netted nine to lead Washington.
Both teams relied on their frontcourt scoring throughout the first quarter. Griner scored nine points in the post for the Mercury, while forward Aaliyah Edwards netted six for the Mystics. Washington closed the period on a 12-3 run to lead 19-17.
–Field Level Media
