The Phoenix Mercury dealt with several wrong turns the night before, but turned their luck around against the Golden State Valkyries on Friday with an 81-72 win at PHX Arena.
While on their way home from a loss in Las Vegas, the Mercury’s plane experienced several issues, including refusing to start and a door that wouldn’t lock. What was supposed to be a 45-minute flight turned into several hours on the tarmac and ended with the team landing in Phoenix at 3 a.m.
“I’m just proud of our group. We played five games in eight nights and that’s not easy to do,” coach Nate Tibbetts said. “We finished on a back-to-back and got in at 3 a.m. and I’m sure some people didn’t go to bed until 5 or 5:30. For us, to come out and compete the way we did, I thought we were extremely disciplined defensively for 40 minutes.”
The Mercury’s long night didn’t impact Alyssa Thomas’ performance as the forward secured her sixth triple-double of the season, scoring 13 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes. She’s had five triple-doubles in the last nine games.
Thomas now has 17 regular-season triple-doubles in her career and owns 38.9% of the WNBA’s 54 all-time triple-doubles.
Thomas’ 16th assist also broke the franchise record for most assists in a game.
“I’m just impressed with her focus, her desire, her want to each and every night,” Tibbetts said. “I’m happy she finally got the franchise because I think she’s got 15 assists two or three times. What she does for us, it’s special and I’m glad she took a chance coming here to Phoenix.”
Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, right, celebrates a scores against the Minnesota Lynx as Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner, left, looks on during the second half, July 9, 2025, in Phoenix.
In what was a physical game, the Mercury made a strong effort to control the boards and control each possession. The Mercury finished with seven second-chance points and 33 rebounds.
The Valkyries saw several players take some hard falls, but one of the scariest moments was when guard Tiffany Hayes awkwardly collided with Kahleah Copper during the Mercury’s possession with 7:17 left in the third quarter. Hayes was helped off to the locker room and was later diagnosed with a knee injury.
The Mercury used an 11-0 run midway through the first quarter to gain the lead, but the Valkyries closed the quarter with a 10-3 run to cut the lead to one possession.
Backed by Monique Akoa Makani’s 11 points, the Mercury really turned it around in the second quarter. Akoa Makani saw the floor well, making all three of her 3-point attempts and getting to the free-throw line.
The Mercury were also hitting their 3s in the second quarter, going 4 of 7 (57.1%).
“It’s not how we wanted to come out yesterday (Aug. 21 vs. Las Vegas), but you can’t dwell on it,” Thomas said. “If we stayed in the past and dwelled on it then we wouldn’t have been ready today. That’s the beauty of a back-to-back. You’re able to forget what happened and we came out ready to play. We weren’t happy and today we played our kind of basketball.”
The Mercury shared the ball well, tallying 25 assists with five players tallying double digits in points.
When the Valkyries made an early run in the second half, the Mercury regained momentum from Thomas and DeWanna Bonner combining for five points.
After dealing with a rib injury the night before, Copper returned to action and scored 12 points in over 28 minutes.
The Mercury are now 22-14 and moved to fourth in the WNBA. The Mercury will next play against the Los Angeles Sparks on the road on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
