The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Phoenix Wins Fourth Straight Giving New York First Home Loss While Golden State Beats Indiana Continuing a Season String of Sellouts

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Two upsets occurred in the WNBA doubleheader on Amazon Prime Thursday night as Phoenix (10-4) completed a back-to-back following the Mercury’s 83-75 win Wednesday night at Connecticut (2-10) they hit the defending champion New York Liberty (10-2) with their first home loss in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center before a crowd of 16,383.

Out West the expansion Golden State Valkyries (6-6) continued their home sellout streak of 18,064 at the Chase Center in San Francisco stunning Indiana 88-77 on a night that Caitlin Clark with the visiting Fever (6-6) was 0-7 on 3-point attempts and 3-14 from the field for 11 points, seven boards, and nine assists.

Making it four straight victories the Mercury got 21 points from rookie Monique Akoa Makani, a season-best, while Alyssa Thomas had 18 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists.

Sami Whitcomb added 16 points, eight in the fourth quarter, while Satou Sabally had 14 points and nine boards while Kitija Laksa scored 13.

New York’s Breanna Stewart scored 35, her best to date on the season, and Sabrina Ionescu dropped off from consecutive 34-point performances scoring 16 on 3-of-16 from the field and 1-of-10 on 3-pointers.

Phoenix surged in the final period completing a 16-6 run that put the Mercury up 10 points with Whitcomb making four from deep and Laksa completing three though the rest of the visitors were 0-16 beyond the arc.

The Liberty lost finals MVP Jonquel Jones to a right ankle injury early in the second quarter while Phoenix’s Lexi Held was sidelined in the middle of the third quarter after getting tangled with Stewart diving for a loose ball.

Rutgers grad Kahleah Copper, who returned Sunday from knee surgery in May was held out.

New York heads off to a four-game road trip in Seattle Sunday while Phoenix on Saturday will be in Chicago at 1 p.m., on ABC and ESPN+.

In the Mercury’s win at Connecticut, Thomas in her first game back since traded to Phoenix last winter scored 14 points with 11 assists and eight boards while Sabally scored 12 with 15 rebounds.

Three other players were in double figures for Phoenix, Held with 14, Copper with 13, and Laksa with 11 before a crowd of 7,864 at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

In the off season, the Sun lost their entire starting lineup and 10 of 12 from the roster and are off to their worst start in franchise history.

Phoenix had lost four straight in the series and six at Mohegan.

Connecticut rookie Aneesah Morrow had 16 points, while Jacy Sheldon scored 13 points propelled by three from deep. Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 10 points and a personal best 14 boards with three blocks.

On Friday Dallas visits with Paige Bueckers at 7:30 p.m. back for the first time since the former UConn great went No. 1 overall in the draft in April a week after leading the Huskies to their 12th NCAA championship.

The game is part of a triple header on ION with Washington at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m., and Seattle at Las Vegas at 10 p.m.

In San Francisco where Golden State tied Indiana for sixth in the standings, Kayla Thornton scored 16 with 5-8 from deep while Veronica Burton scored 11 and the Valkryies bench provided strong support, Tiffany Hayes with 14 points, Chloe Bibby with 12 points, and Laeticia Amihere with 10 points.

Aliyah Boston had 17 points and 12 boards for Indiana, while Kelsey Mitchell scored 16 and Natasha Howard had 13 points.

Golden State hosts Connecticut Sunday at 8:30 p.m., while Indiana the same day is at Las Vegas at 3 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN+/Disney+.