The Phoenix Mercury held the visiting Washington Mystics to just 36.6 percent shooting from the field en route to a 91-72 victory on Tuesday night.
Phoenix (8-20) never trailed, taking the lead on a Diana Taurasi 3-pointer 58 seconds into the game. Taurasi ended up connecting on 3 of 6 3-point attempts and finished with a team-high-tying 15 points for the Mercury, who shot 55.7 percent from the floor.
Moriah Jefferson also had 15 points, joining Taurasi as two of the five Mercury scorers in double figures. Brittney Griner scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds, while Michaela Onyenwere added another 11 points off the bench and went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Sophie Cunningham led Phoenix’s efforts from long range, going 4-for-6 en route to 14 points. All 10 Mercury players who saw the floor scored, with Megan Gustafson chipping in eight points and Sug Sutton notching another six.
Meanwhile, Washington (13-15) went just 26 of 71 from the floor, including an 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) effort from deep. Brittney Sykes led all scorers with 24 points, while Myisha Hines-Allen went 3-for-8 from 3-point range en route to 11 points and distributed a game-high seven assists.
The Mystics cut a 10-point halftime deficit to four 3:30 into the third quarter, but the Mercury responded with a 15-2 run that effectively put the game away. The pivotal burst concluded with Destanni Henderson’s 3-pointer off a Gustafson feed.
Gustafson was one of six Mercury players to dish out multiple assists. Taurasi, Jefferson, Cunningham and Sutton each recorded a team-high four.
Washington could not get the deficit into single digits the rest of the way as it took its fifth loss in the last six games.
For Phoenix, the win improved its record to 2-1 during its current four-game homestand.
–Field Level Media
