With a fresh new team, Mercury delivers bold statement performance

It wasn’t a question that Phoenix’s offense would prove to be its strength, and they showed out. Satou Sabally led the scoring with 27 points and Alyssa Thomas with 20 points. The duo became the second pair of teammates to score 20 or more points each in their Mercury debuts in franchise history, and the fourth pair in WNBA history.

Monique Akoa-Makani, Alexa Held and Kalani Brown helped Mercury’s offensive onslaught and debuted with the team in the regular season. The Mercury shot for 52% as a team.

Eight players made their debuts for Phoenix against the Storm. Thomas knows the significance for her teammates and was impressed with their performance.

“It’s a big moment to come and play, let alone start,” Thomas said. “But they’ve been ready for this moment.”

Keeping the opposition far

Defense was a key theme throughout the Mercury’s training camp, especially for the big three. The Mercury did more than enough to keep Seattle out of the game early. Phoenix outscored the Storm 41-30 at the half, with Alexis Prince racking up eight rebounds and eight defensive rebounds. The Mercury forced 13 turnovers against the Storm.

Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts credits the defense as a reason for the win.

“You can’t do good defense without finishing possessions,” he said. “So we did that and that’s important.”

Skylar Diggins was Seattle’s highest scorer with 21 points and 50% from the field. Nneka Ogwumike also went 50% from the field. However, the rest of the team combined to only shoot 23%.

The Phoenix Mercury will now shift its focus to the Los Angeles Sparks as both teams look for their second win on May 21, at 7 p.m.