Alyssa Thomas recorded her 20th triple-double in the regular season, Kahleah Copper scored 21 points and the Phoenix Mercury edged the Los Angeles Sparks 86-82 on Wednesday afternoon. Thomas, who also has six triple-doubles in the playoffs, finished with 19 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds.
She had assists on seven of the last eight baskets scored by the Mercury, who had 28 assists on 35 baskets. Her final one, to Monique Akoa Makani with 14 seconds left, sealed the win.
Akoa Makani had 14 points for the Mercury (10-18), who won their second straight after a six-game losing streak. Natasha Mack added 10.
Phoenix was 12-of-18 shooting with 10 assists in the fourth quarter. Rae Burrell had 20 points for the Sparks (10-16), who take a five-game losing streak into the All-Star break.
Dearica Hamby had 18 points and 10 rebounds, but missed a tying layup with 19 seconds to go. Ariel Atkins added 15 points and Nneka Ogwumike had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Ogwumike, with her ninth rebound of the game, passed Candace Parker (2,902) for second place on the Sparks’ career list behind Lisa Leslie. She finished with her 12th double-double of the season.
Copper, Thomas and Akoa Makani combined for 32 points to help the Mercury take a 43-41 lead at halftime. Cameron Brink and Burrell had 3-pointers in the last 63 seconds to pull the Sparks into a tie at 60 going into the fourth quarter.
Copper had a basket and an assist to start the fourth quarter and Phoenix opened a 79-72 lead with 3:46 to play. Up next Mercury: Home against Golden State on July 29.
Los Angeles: Home against New York on Tuesday. ------ AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball