Mercury hope to soar over Wings again
The Dallas Wings and the Phoenix Mercury have had a flair for the dramatic in recent games.
Now they'll meet each other Tuesday night in Phoenix in a game that was moved up one day to accommodate Game 2 of the Phoenix Suns' NBA Western Conference semifinal playoff matchup against the Denver Nuggets.
The Wings (3-5) will be playing the middle game of a five-game road trip that has featured two last-second finishes in Seattle.
Arike Ogunbowale made a 3-pointer with two seconds left to give Dallas a 68-67 victory Sunday night.
"That's her time," said Marina Mabrey, who scored 15 points. "She is the best player at buzzer beaters."
On Friday, Jewell Loyd made a similar shot at the buzzer in overtime to give the Storm a 105-102 victory. That was the reigning WNBA champion's second three-point overtime win against Dallas this season.
"We definitely had to get over that hump," Ogunbowale said. "We're a young team. This was a step that we had to take."
The Mercury (5-3) are coming off consecutive wins against the Chicago Sky in which they overcame double-digit, fourth-quarter deficits.
Phoenix trailed by 13 with 7:39 left to play at home Thursday, which didn't seem as daunting since it came just two days after it overcame a 10-point deficit with 2:39 left to prevail 84-83 in Chicago.
"We were down 10 with two (minutes)," Mercury center Brittney Griner said. "We had plenty of time. We responded."
The Mercury outscored the Sky 19-6 to force overtime then prevailed 77-74 for their third consecutive victory.
"We stay together and do all the little things, stay the course," coach Sandy Brondello said. "There's a lot of confidence in timeouts. If you can speak positive words, that trickles down to everyone."
Griner had 27 points and 16 rebounds and Kia Nurse made five 3-pointers as Phoenix led wire to wire in an 89-85 victory over the Wings on May 29 in Dallas.
--Field Level Media
