Valkyries unable to hold on late in loss to Mercury
Rookie Lexi Held scored a season-high 24 points, Satou Sabally had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists and the Phoenix Mercury closed on an 18-1 run to beat the Golden State Valkyries 86-77 on Thursday night.
Phoenix trailed 76-68 with 4:04 remaining.
Held put the Mercury ahead 77-76 with 1:11 remaining on a deep 3-pointer. After Golden State went 1 for 2 at the free-throw line, Sabally rebounded her own miss and put it in while being fouled. Sabally made the free throw for a three-point play and an 80-77 advantage with 33.3 left.
Golden State guard Veronica Burton missed a wide-open layup at the other end and Sabally was fouled before making two free throws for a five-point lead. The Valkyries turned it over on their next two inbound plays, and the Mercury made four straight free throws to seal it.
Held was 7 for 15 from the field, including 4 for 9 behind the arc, and 6 for 6 at the free-throw line for the best scoring output by a rookie this season, passing Paige Bueckers' mark of 21.
Phoenix (6-3) improved to 5-1 at home — a franchise best to begin a season.
Sami Whitcomb added nine points before fouling out late for Phoenix, which was without starters Kahleah Copper (left knee) and Alyssa Thomas (left calf).
Burton led Golden State (2-5) with 16 points, going 9 for 11 at the free-throw line. Temi Fagbenle had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Kayla Thornton, Cecilia Zandalasini and Julie Vanloo each scored 10.
Megan McConnell, sister of NBA guard T.J. McConnell, was wearing his No. 9 Indiana Pacers jersey on the bench after getting injured in Phoenix's loss to Minnesota on Tuesday. He was seen arriving at the NBA Finals wearing her No. 16 Mercury jersey.