Peddy scores 20 and the Mercury top the Sky to win consecutive games for 1st time this season

Jul 21, 2023, 05:25 am

PHOENIX -- — Reserve Shey Peddy hit five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 20 points as the Phoenix Mercury beat the Chicago Sky 80-62 Thursday night and won consecutive games for the first time this season.

Brittney Griner had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Megan Gustafson added 12 points and fellow reserve Shug Sutton scored 11 for the the Mercury (6-15), who got 45 points from their bench players. Phoenix was coming off a win over Connecticut on Tuesday.

Kahleah Copper scored 17 points for the Sky (8-13).

Phoenix led 50-32 following back-to-back 3-pointers by Sophie Cunningham and Michaela Onyenwere just over two minutes into the third quarter. Then, Copper rallied the Sky.

Copper had 11 in the quarter and capped an 18-2 run with a pair of free throws after Cunningham was called for a technical. That made it 52-50 with 1:05 to go in the period. But, in the last minute, Peddy hit consecutive 3s and her buzzer-beater put Phoenix ahead 58-50.

Peddy opened the fourth quarter with another 3 and the Mercury pulled away.

Chicago struggled to score in the opening period. Phoenix led 22-8 after one quarter and 40-29 at the half.

Griner had a free throw in the second quarter that gave her 4,821 points, second on the Phoenix career scoring list. Diana Taurasi, who missed the game with a hamstring injury, is the franchise and WNBA leader at 9,929.

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