PHOENIX (AP) — Brionna Jones scored 20 points on 10 of 16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, Marina Mabrey added 19 points and the Connecticut Sun beat the Phoenix Mercury 88-69 on Friday night.
Tyasha Harris hit a 3-pointer that made it 11-8 at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter and Connecticut (27-10) led the rest of the way en route to its third straight victory. With the win, the Sun remained a game behind the Minnesota Lynx for second place in the WNBA standings and four games back of the first-place New York Liberty.
DeWanna Bonner scored 14 points, Harris had 12 and Alyssa Thomas finished with 11 assists to go with seven points for the Sun.
Phoenix (17-20) has lost six of its last seven games, including three straight since it beat the Atlanta Dream 74-66 on Sept. 3 to clinch a postseason berth. The Mercury had their streak of 10 consecutive playoff appearances snapped last season, when they won just nine games and had the second-worst winning percentage in franchise history (.225).
Brittney Griner made 11 of 15 from the field and finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks for the Mercury. Natasha Cloud scored 17 points with seven assists and Diana Taurasi had seven points on 2 of 10 shooting with four assists.
Connecticut had a 22-17 lead after the first quarter and grew that lead to 46-38 at the half.
A jumper from Cloud cut the Sun’s lead to 48-42 at the 7:31 mark of the third, but Connecticut responded with a 22-0 and took a commanding 70-44 lead into the fourth.
The Sun outscored the Mercury 24-6 in the third quarter as Phoenix shot 3 of 20 from the field, including 0 for 10 from 3-point range. It tied for the Mercury’s lowest-scoring quarter of the season.
