No. 4 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 5 Phoenix Mercury
Mohegan Sun Arena
Thursday, August 23rd, 8:30 p.m. ET
Watch live on ESPN 2
Last Game: The Connecticut Sun won 89-86 at home over the Los Angeles Sparks in their final regular season game on Sunday, August 19th. The Phoenix Mercury advanced to the second round Tuesday night with a 101-83 victory over the Dallas Wings.
About This Game:
Thursday’s game is single-elimination. The winner advances to semifinals against either the top-seeded Seattle Storm or the second-seeded Atlanta Dream. That will depend on the outcome of the other second-round game featuring No. 3 Washington and No. 6 Los Angeles.
Inside The Matchup:
- Connecticut was 1-2 against Phoenix this season.
- Courtney Williams (17.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg), Chiney Ogwumike (16.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Jasmine Thomas (11.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg) led the Sun in the season series against the Mercury.
- Diana Taurasi (24.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.7 apg), Brittney Griner (18.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg,2.7 bpg) and DeWanna Bonner (14.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.7 apg) led the Phoenix in the three games against the Sun.
- Morgan Tuck had a season-high 20 points including three threes against the Mercury (6/16).
- Williams led the Sun with 25 points while tying her career-high with 10 rebounds in the win over Phoenix on July 13th.
- Alyssa Thomas recorded a career-high 10 assists against the Mercury on July 13th.
- Bonner grabbed a career-high 13 defensive rebounds against the Sun on July 5th.
- Jasmine Thomas (27 points, five rebounds, five assists) and Jonquel Jones (17 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) led Connecticut in Sunday’s win over Los Angeles.
- Jones’ seven assists were a career-high.
- Bonner (29 points, 11 rebounds) and Taurasi (26 points, 12 assists) led Phoenix in Tuesday’s first round win over Dallas.
- Connecticut led the WNBA in both scoring average (87.6) and rebounding average (36.88 per game), and finished second in field goal percentage (46.6 percent) and three-point percentage (36.7 percent).
- Alyssa Thomas finished fifth in the league in rebounds (8.1 rpg).
- Ogwumike was third in the league in field goal percentage (60.3 percent).
- Jones finished second in the league in three-point percentage (46.7 percent).
- Phoenix finished second in free throw percentage (84.9 percent), third in field goal percentage (45.7 percent) and assist average (20.59 per game), and fourth in scoring average (85.8) and three-point percentage (36.0 percent).
- Taurasi led the league in free throw percentage (92.5 percent) third in the league in scoring (20.7 ppg) and fourth in assists (5.3 apg).
- Griner led the league in blocks (2.56 per game) and finished sixth in scoring (20.5 ppg).
- January led the league in three-point percentage (47.0 percent).
Next Game: The winner will advance to the WNBA semifinals.