Shey Peddy scored 11 of her game-high 20 points to lead a surge midway through the second half as the host Phoenix Mercury defeated the Chicago Sky 80-62 on Thursday night.
Brittney Griner added 12 points and 11 rebounds, Megan Gustafson scored 12 and Sug Sutton had 11 for the Mercury (6-15). Phoenix won a second straight game for the first time this season despite playing without Diana Taurasi, who had quad and toe injuries.
Kahleah Copper scored 17 points to lead the Sky (8-13), whose bench was outscored 45-19 by its counterparts. Chicago took its fourth loss in a row.
Sophie Cunningham and Michaela Onyenwere made consecutive 3-pointers as the Mercury increased their 10-point halftime lead to 18 early in the third quarter.
Copper scored eight points and Dana Evans added four during a 19-2 run that pulled the Sky within 52-50.
Peddy made a 3-pointer to end a 3 1/2-minute scoring drought for Phoenix, and she added another 3-pointer less than a minute later to give the Mercury a 58-50 lead at the end of the third quarter.
She stayed hot, scoring Phoenix’s first five points of the fourth quarter, and Griner added two free throws to push the lead to 13 as the Mercury regained control.
Chicago, which hadn’t played since an 84-72 home loss to the Connecticut Sun on July 12, started very slowly on offense.
Eight Mercury players made a field goal during the first seven minutes as Phoenix opened a 19-5 lead.
Ruthy Hebard made one of two free throws to end a nearly five-minute scoring drought for the Sky, and Evans’ layup ended a six-minute field-goal drought, trimming Phoenix’s lead to 22-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Chicago’s Robyn Parks made a jumper to start the second-quarter scoring. Almost five minutes later, Onyenwere’s 3-pointer gave the Mercury their biggest lead of the half, 33-16.
Elizabeth Williams and Copper scored five points each as the Sky finished with a 14-7 run that cut Phoenix’s lead to 40-30 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
