Satou Sabally gets surprise start, leads Mercury past Sun

Phoenix Mercury All-Star forward Satou Sabally, reportedly out indefinitely because of personal reasons after missing Sunday's game at the Chicago Sky, played Tuesday night against the visiting Connecticut Sun and finished with 23 points to spark an 82-66 victory.

Alyssa Thomas, in her first year with the Mercury after playing the first 11 years of her career with the Sun, recorded a triple-double for the second consecutive game. She has a WNBA-record 18 in her career (regular season and playoffs).

She had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists after tallying 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the 83-67 win against the Sky.

DeWanna Bonner had 18 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Kahleah Copper finished with 15 points.

Connecticut (5-23) is now 1-12 on the road this season.

The Sun were led by Marina Mabrey (18 points) and Tina Charles (16 points).

Phoenix (18-11) never trailed.

The Mercury went on a 16-2 run to close the first quarter to take a 26-6 lead.

Phoenix made 10 of 20 shots from the field, 5 of 9 from 3-point range, in the first quarter, while Connecticut was 2 of 16 from the field and failed to make a 3-pointer in six attempts.

The Sun also had six turnovers in the quarter.

Bonner, who played the previous five seasons with the Sun, outscored Connecticut in the first quarter with nine points after making all three of her 3-point attempts.

A 12-2 run by Connecticut, fueled by seven points from Mabrey, cut the lead to 30-22 with 4:34 remaining in the second quarter.

Phoenix led 44-28 at halftime behind Bonner's 13 points, Sabally's nine points, and Thomas' eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

The Mercury pulled away to a 60-32 lead with 5:40 left in the third quarter following a 14-2 run.

Connecticut rallied back, outscoring Phoenix 18-4 to cut the lead to 64-50 with 9:02 remaining.

The Sun would not get closer than 14 points the rest of the game.

Thomas surpassed 10 points, giving her the triple-double, on a layup that put Phoenix ahead 76-56 with 3:44 left.

--Field Level Media