Sophie Cunningham went 5-of-9 from three, and Moriah Jefferson and Brittney Griner made clutch shots in the final 4:18 for the Phoenix Mercury in a 72-66 victory over the Connecticut Sun Tuesday night at Footprint Center in Phoenix.
It was a great way for Phoenix (5-15) to start the second half of the season: beating the now 15-6 Sun.
Jefferson hit a short jumper at the buzzer of the shot clock to make it 70-62 with 2:40 remaining. The Sun turned the ball over a couple of times after that and Tiffany Hayes missed a three that would have cut it to five at 46 seconds remaining. Alyssa Thomas’ two free throws at 19 ticks cut it to six, but that was not enough to make Connecticut decide to foul.
Griner made a phenomenal deep two from the right corner that made it 68-61 with 4:18 to go. It wasn’t the dagger, but it was a huge shot. Diana Taurasi had just exited the game after taking a knee to the hamstring.
Back-to-back threes from Tyasha Harris and DiJonai Carrington followed by back-to-back DeWanna Bonner mid-range makes cut the Sun’s deficit to 63-61 at the 6:06 mark of the fourth. But Thomas was then called for a costly technical that gave the Mercury a point and momentum. Taurasi, who made the technical free throw, hit a mid-range fadeaway to push Phoenix’s lead…
