DeWanna Bonner scored a game-high 19 points and added five rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots as the injury-plagued Phoenix Mercury defeated the host Portland Fire 78-72 in a WNBA Commissioner’s Cup game Friday night.
Natasha Mack added 16 points and Monique Akoa Makani and Noemie Brochant scored 11 apiece for Phoenix (4-8), which secured its second straight win following a six-game skid. Jovana Nogic added nine points and a game-high six assists.
Sarah Ashlee Barker led Portland (6-6) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Karlie Samuelson scored 13 points, making 4 of 5 shots — all 3-pointers — and Teja Oblak had 11 points and four assists.
Nogic made a driving layup with 2:46 left to give Phoenix a 68-67 lead, sparking a 7-0 run.
Portland’s Luisa Geiselsoder and Oblak made back-to-back 3-pointers, the latter with 4:40 remaining, to cap an 8-0 run and give the Fire their first lead of the night at 62-61.
Bonner made a 3-pointer to put the Mercury back out front before Oblak made two free throws with 3:55 left to tie it.
Mack’s jump shot put Phoenix up, but Barker answered with a 3-pointer with 3:02 to go to give Portland a 67-66 edge.
The Mercury shot 41.9% from the field (26 of 62), including 7 of 21 (33.3%) from beyond the 3-point line. Portland shot 42.1% (24 of 57) and was 10 of 26 (38.5%) from distance.
It was a homecoming of sorts for third-year Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts, who spent eight seasons as an assistant with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers.
Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper (left hip) and Alyssa Thomas (left calf) didn’t play because of injuries.
After leading by four at the half, the Mercury doubled their lead to eight on three occasions in the third quarter, the last on a Lexi Held 3-pointer that made it 49-41 with 4:16 left, before Portland got back within 55-51 entering the fourth.
Phoenix never trailed in taking a 38-34 halftime lead as Bonner and Mack each scored eight points.
After trailing by as many as 10 points, the Fire pulled with two on Barker’s driving layup with 1:31 left before the intermission, capping a 12-5 run.
The Mercury led 21-16 after the first quarter. Phoenix opened the game with a 5-0 spurt, sparked by Bonner’s 3-pointer, and extended the lead to 17-7 midway through the quarter on a Brochant trey.
–Field Level Media
