Phoenix, AZ—-The Phoenix Mercury haven’t figured it all out this season and once they do they will be a formidable opponent in the Western Conference.
The Mercury continually turn the ball which plagues the team this year, the Mercury fell 83-69 at Footprint Center on Tuesday against the Seattle Storm.
Now 2-6 for the year, the Mercury have struggled to put together a consistent full game on the court this year. This terrible loss to the last-place Storm doesn’t help the team’s confidence moving forward into the season.
Sophie Cunningham got the Mercury’s offense going scoring 21 points with two deep 3-pointers and four boards. But the rest of the team struggled with Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner combining for two mere points.
Cunningham had the hot hand for the Mercury in the first quarter, shooting 4-for-5 with nine points. She continued her sizzling shooting in the third quarter, leading the Mercury with 10 points and made three of her five shot attempts.
Sutton scored nine in the second quarter, including seven of the Mercury’s last nine points. Sutton’s all-around play saw her leading the starting five with six rebounds and adding 15 points in the game.
“My teammates have the confidence in me to get to my spots and to pass the ball wherever I want to,” Sutton said. “I think it’s an all in all effort and I just come in and try to give my team and any game everything that I have. That’s all I can control right now.”
The Mercury played with no energy or any sense of urgency throughout the entire game.
Seattle went on a 12-3 run that was capped off by former UConn star guard Kia Nurse getting on the fast break from a defensive miscue. The third quarter followed the same script with the Mercury unable to follow up a late second quarter surge and were outscored 12-0 and couldn’t regroup.
“We got to focus. We in the locker room have got to be better. Our starts are terrible,” Cunningham said. “Our defense has got to be dialed in, our offense has got to know what we’re going to run. People have to know the plays and the position, but it’s a long season. Again, enough is enough and we have got to turn it around.
