Kahleah Copper had 27 points and Valeriane Ayayi had a career high 20 as the short-handed Phoenix Mercury ruined Toronto’s first home game at Scotiabank Center with a 89-80 win Saturday afternoon.
Phoenix (7-13) has now won three of its last four games. The Mercury finished Saturday’s game with just eight healthy players. They started without Alyssa Thomas, who was serving her one-game suspension handed down by the WNBA after an altercation in Indiana with Caitlin Clark and then lost Noemie Brochant to an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter.
Toronto (9-10) was not at full strength either. Just before tip-off it was revealed that Tempo star guard Marina Mabrey would miss the game with neck spasms. She was seen on the bench with a white towel around her neck in the first half.
Mabrey was coming off of a 53-point performance against Los Angeles that tied two other players for most points ever scored in a WNBA game.
The game was tied at 73 with five minutes to go and it was the Mercury who pushed through. DeWanna Bonner sank a step-back three with 2:28 left to put Phoenix ahead 83-77. After a basket and a free throw by the Tempo made it 83-80, Bonner tried another three that was off the mark, but Copper was there for the rebound and put-back to make it 85-80 with 51.2 seconds left.
On its next possession, Phoenix was whistled for a foul on Isabella Harrison with 43.5 seconds left, but the Mercury asked for a video review and the call was overturned. Phoenix won the ensuing tip-off and cruised from there.
Six different Toronto players scored in double figures led by Nyara Sabally with 14. Tempo rookie Tima Pouye had a career-high 13.
The Tempo made only one two-point basket in the first quarter, but sank six threes to lead 22-20 at the buzzer.
Phoenix started the second quarter strong and led 34-27 after a steal and lay-up by Bonner, but the Tempo answered with a 7-0 run capped by a three by Julie Allemand. The Tempo held a 44-42 lead at halftime.
–Field Level Media
