Phoenix Mercury finally break through with win over Seattle Storm to start road trip

Phoenix snapped a six-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 72-68 victory over the Seattle Storm, earning its first win since mid-May and beginning a four-game road trip on a positive note. The win was far from perfect, but it was exactly what the Mercury needed.

“No one wants to go through that,” head coach Nate Tibbetts said postgame about his club’s skid. “It wasn’t a lot of fun, but it’s going to make us stronger, and we’re going to continue to get better because of it.”

Natasha Mack was the star of the win, scoring a career-high 16 points while going 7-for-7 from the field, adding 10 rebounds and three blocks. Kahleah Copper also scored 16 points, while Monique Akoa Makani added 12 and DeWanna Bonner finished with 10.

While the Mercury had four players score in double figures, their 3-point shooting struggles continued. Phoenix went 3-for-22 from beyond the arc and committed 14 turnovers, which led to 14 Seattle points.

“I didn’t think that we were great here tonight, but when you’re searching for one, you’ll take it however you can get it,” Tibbetts said. “There’s some areas that we can learn from tonight, but just a very gutty win to start a road trip.”

The victory may not have been a flawless performance, but it gave Phoenix exactly what it needed: a fresh start to a challenging four-game road trip.

The result gives the Mercury momentum heading into the remainder of the trip before returning to the Valley. For a team searching for consistency, avoiding an 0-4 road swing was imperative to prevent Phoenix from digging a deeper hole in the standings.

Now comes the challenge of carrying that momentum forward. With three games remaining on the trip, the Mercury have an opportunity to turn a much-needed victory into a successful road swing. If Phoenix can build on its performance, Wednesday’s result could prove to be a turning point in the season.

“We’re just going to take the little wins,” Akoa Makani said postgame. “I hope it’s the beginning of something, but yeah, I think we can definitely use that to keep improving ourselves and go on this road [trip] and try to get some more [wins].”

The Mercury now head to Oregon to take on the Portland Fire on Friday, June 5, at 7 p.m.