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Phoenix, Arizona – The Phoenix Mercury (18-16) defeated the Atlanta Dream (12-22) to extend their winning streak to three games.
The game started off fast paced as both teams were going up and down scoring baskets. For the Dream, it was Brittney Sykes who sparked their offense. She scored10 points in the first quarter on 4-6 shooting.
Leilani Mitchell set the tone for the Mercury as she controlled pace and drove to the goal aggressively leading to several trips to the free throw line. Mitchell scored 11 points in the quarter and went 6-7 from the free throw line.
Phoenix led 25-24 after the first quarter.
The second quarter was another evenly played quarter as both teams scored 19 points. Monique Currie provided production off of the bench for the Mercury tallying 12 points in the first half on 5-5 shooting.
Brittney Griner played a big role in the first half as well scoring 12 points, mostly from the free throw line.
Sykes continued to be the driving force for the Dream as she put up five points in the second quarter for a total of 15 in the half.
Phoenix led 44-43 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Mercury started to separate from the Dream as their defense turned up. Phoenix was able to stop the Dream’s offensive attack by stopping everyone on the Dream except Sykes who put up 14 in the quarter.
Griner started to really impose her will with nine points in the quarter. She started to get more one-on-one post match-ups in the second half.
Phoenix led 67-60 at the end of the third quarter.
Atlanta seemed to run out of steam in the fourth quarter and Phoenix took control as Griner dropped nine more points in the quarter giving her 30 points for the game. Sykes scored 33 points in the game for the Dream.
The game changer in this game was the 18 points by Mitchell. The Mercury won the game, 84-70.
Phoenix secured the 5th seed in the playoffs with this victory and will play the Seattle Storm at Wells Fargo Arena, in Tempe, AZ on Wednesday, September 6th at 10 p.m. est, on ESPN 2.
