WNBA playoffs: Phoenix Mercury stun Seattle Storm in overtime, Chicago Sky progress past Minnesota Lynx
Coverage of the WNBA playoffs continues late on Tuesday night as the Chicago Sky visit the top-seeded Connecticut Sun in the first game of their best-of-five semi-final series. Join us live from 1am on Sky Sports Main Event and Arena
Monday 27 September 2021 11:24, UK
Brittney Griner scored 23 points and took 16 rebounds, and Diana Taurasi scored six of her 14 points in overtime as the Phoenix Mercury outlasted the Seattle Storm 85-80 on Sunday evening in a second-round playoff game in Everett, Washington.
The single-elimination game between two of the heavyweights of the league was a slugfest, going back and forth throughout before Taurasi, who had missed the previous five games with a left ankle injury, and Griner proved too much for Seattle in the extra period.
The fifth-seeded Mercury will play on the road against the second-seeded Las Vegas in the best-of-five league semi-finals beginning on Tuesday night.
The fourth period featured six ties, the final of which came on Sue Bird's three-pointer with one minute to play that knotted the game at 73. Skylar Diggins-Smith, who shot better than 82 per cent from the line this season, missed two free throws with 40.8 seconds to play.
Jewell Loyd missed a driving layup for Seattle with 15.4 seconds remaining, giving Phoenix a chance at the final shot. But Diggins-Smith's jumper in the lane was blocked by Mercedes Russell, sending the game into overtime.
Taurasi poured in a three-pointer to tie the game at 76 with 3:39 left in the overtime period and then hit the go-ahead bucket a little more than a minute later to give Phoenix a lead they would not relinquish. Griner followed with a layup with 52.6 seconds to play.
Diggins-Smith added 20 points for Phoenix, with Brianna Turner and Kia Nurse scoring 12 each. The Mercury's starters scored all but four of the team's points in the win.
Katie Lou Samuelson led Seattle with 18 points while Bird scored 16, Loyd had 15 (on 5 of 24 shooting) and Mercedes Russell racked up 10 points and 12 rebounds. The Storm, last season's league champions, failed to make the semi-finals for the second time in the past three years.
Chicago Sky 89 - 76 Minnesota Lynx
Courtney Vandersloot went for 19 points to lead five players in double-figure scoring as the No. 6 Chicago Sky defeated the No. 3 Minnesota Lynx 89-76 in Minneapolis. The Sky now advance to play the top-seeded Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night.
Chicago led by six points heading into the fourth quarter and quickly pushed its advantage to 71-58 by the 7:59 mark of the period. The Lynx cut their deficit to four points on a Napheesa Collier three-pointer with 3:47 to play but would get no closer.
Kahleah Copper added 16 points for the Sky, who earned a trip to the semi-finals for the first time since 2016. Azura Stevens added 15, with Diamond DeShields adding 14 points off the bench and Allie Quigley tallying 11 for Chicago.
Aerial Powers poured in 24 points to pace all scorers while Kayla McBride scored 19 and Sylvia Fowles added 17 points for Minnesota in the setback. The Lynx lost in a single-elimination round for the third time in the past four seasons.
Both teams enjoyed leads in the first quarter before DeShields scored the final four points of the period to pull Chicago within 23-22 after 10 minutes of play. The two sides swapped leads back and forth early in the second before Chicago pulled in front for the rest of the half, leading by as many as six points and settling for a 42-38 advantage at intermission.
McBride and Fowles led all scorers at halftime with 13 points each while Copper paced the Sky with 11 points in the half. Chicago outshot the Lynx 54.8 per cent to 43.2 per cent in the first 20 minutes but both teams were woeful from beyond the arc, with the Sky shooting 2 for 10 from three-point range and Minnesota just 2 of 7.
The Sky pushed their lead to 60-50 on two free throws by DeShields at the 2:59 mark of the third quarter. Minnesota finished the period with a 6-2 run to pull within 62-56 heading to the final 10 minutes.
