WNBA scores, takeaways: Mercury, Liberty cruise to wins, Angel Reese makes more history

The 2024 WNBA season resumed on Thursday night with a trio of games that were altogether rather uncompetitive. Early on, the Phoenix Mercury crushed the Chicago Sky in Kahleah Copper’s return to Chicago and the Minnesota Lynx dominated the fourth quarter to run away from the Washington Mystics. Finally, the New York Liberty made easy work of the Los Angeles Sparks. 

Here are the final scores from each game:

• Phoenix Mercury 85, Chicago Sky 65
• Minnesota Lynx 79, Washington Mystics 68
• New York Liberty 103, Los Angeles Sparks 68

And now, some key takeaways:

Copper makes a statement in return to Chicago

Kahleah Copper spent the last seven seasons in Chicago, making three All-Star Games and winning Finals MVP in 2021. With the team trending downwards since the championship run, Copper requested a trade out of town and was sent to Phoenix in the winter. 

Strangely, this was the first time that the Sky and Mercury met this season, making this Copper’s first game back in her former home. She immediately showed the Chicago fans what they were missing by pouring in 13 points in the first quarter alone, more than the Sky scored as a team. 

Copper finished the night with 29 points on 12-of-19 from the field to lead the…