WNBA: Sky’s Angel Reese sets rookie mark, but Mercury prevail

Date:

Share post:


Sophie Cunningham notched her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, helping lead the host Phoenix Mercury to their second win over the Chicago Sky in the past four days, prevailing 86-68 on Sunday night.

Phoenix (15-13) beat the Sky 85-65 at Chicago on Thursday in the first game after the month-long Olympic break.

Chicago (11-16) played on back-to-back days on the road after winning 90-86 on Saturday at the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Sky trailed by as many as 20 in the first half before the Mercury led 52-35 at halftime behind Diana Taurasi’s 15 points.

Taurasi finished with 23 points and five assists and Brittney Griner had 18 points.

Monique Billings, signed earlier Sunday to a seven-day contract, added 13 points and eight rebounds.

Kahleah Copper, who had 29 points in the Mercury’s win at Chicago on Thursday, finished with seven points on 2-for-11 shooting from the field.

Angel Reese led the Sky with 19 points and a career-high 20 rebounds.

The rookie has 20 career double-doubles after 27 games, the fastest rate at the start of a career in WNBA history.

Chennedy Carter finished with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists and Kamilla Cardoso finished with 12 points.

Phoenix outscored Chicago 11-3 in the first quarter to take a 22-11 lead with four minutes left.

The Mercury built a 32-19 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Taurasi had 12 points in the first quarter on 3-of-5 shooting from the field while making all five of her free-throw attempts.

Phoenix scored the first seven points of the second quarter, capped by a put-back by Billings to increase the lead to 39-19 with 7:02 remaining until halftime.

After Griner made a layup on the first possession of the second half, giving Phoenix a 54-35 lead, Chicago responded with a 12-0 run.

A jump shot by Carter with 6:03 left in the third cut the lead to 54-47.

Phoenix responded by scoring 11 unanswered points to build a 69-50 lead at the end of the third quarter.

In that game-clinching run, Natasha Cloud and Griner each had four points while Chicago missed seven consecutive shots and committed three turnovers.

–Field Level Media

spot_img

Related articles

WNBA: Wings G Tyasha Harris has knee surgery, out for season

Dallas Wings guard Tyasha Harris will miss the rest of the season following a procedure to treat an...

WNBA: 3-time All-Star Allie Quigley makes retirement official

Three-time All-Star and former WNBA champion Allie Quigley officially announced her retirement on Tuesday after 14 seasons with...

WNBA: Kayla Thornton, Valkyries sink Sparks in overtime

Kayla Thornton and Tami Fagbenle each recorded a double-double while leading the visiting Golden State Valkyries to an...

NBA: Pacers admit Tyrese Haliburton is hurting but will play Game 3

INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle admits his point guard is not fully healthy, but he's 100...

FREE

Get the most important breaking news and analyses for Free.

Thank you for subscribing

Something went wrong.