Seattle’s Nneka Ogwumike had 17 points and eight rebounds as the Storm defeated the host Phoenix Mercury 89-70 on Thursday night in what may have been the final home game of Phoenix legend Diana Taurasi’s career.
Taurasi, 42, has not officially announced she is retiring after this season, but the Mercury hinted in promotional material that Thursday could be Taurasi’s final bow. Retired WNBA icon Sue Bird and UConn coach Geno Auriemma — Taurasi’s college coach from 2000-04 — were among those in attendance.
The three-time champion and 2009 league MVP scored nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range, upping her league-record scoring total to 10,646 points in 565 career regular-season games.
The Mercury (19-21) are heading to the WNBA playoffs as the No. 7 seed and still could host a playoff game if they split the first two games of their best-of-three first-round series at the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx.
The outcome of Thursday’s regular-season finale had no impact on either team’s positioning. The Storm (25-15) are the No. 5 seed and will face the No. 4 Las Vegas Aces in the first round.
All five Storm starters scored in double digits. Skylar Diggins-Smith and Mercedes Russell each posted 14, Sami Whitcomb had 11 with eight rebounds and Gabby Williams scored 10. Joyner Holmes added 10 off the bench.
Seattle outshot Phoenix 44.9 percent to 38.1 percent overall and outscored the Mercury 39-18 from behind the arc.
Brittney Griner had 11 points and eight boards to pace Phoenix. Sophie Cunningham and Natasha Mack scored 10 apiece.
Seattle used a 14-0 run to break open a 33-9 lead late in the first quarter. Diggins-Smith and Whitcomb hit 3-pointers to ignite the run.
The Mercury clamped down on the Storm in the second quarter, allowing just eight points. Seattle shot 68.2 percent from the field in the first quarter and just 25 percent in the second. The Mercury got within 10 points before settling for a 43-31 deficit at halftime.
The Storm regained a 20-point advantage on another 3 from Diggins-Smith that made it 60-40 with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter. They held the Mercury roughly 20 points at bay the rest of the night, as fans’ attention turned to Taurasi and a postgame celebration in her honor.
Mercury leading scorer Kahleah Copper (back) returned from a three-game absence and scored four points in 25 minutes.
The Storm sat leading scorer Jewell Loyd (knee) and Ezi Magbegor (concussion). They each missed their third straight game.
–Field Level Media
