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 , 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.
