Griner ejected in Mercury’s loss to Sky
The Chicago Sky came to Phoenix and took advantage of a short-handed Mercury team, rolling to a 101-87 victory at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Wednesday.
Chicago was led by Diamond Shield’s 25 points – 15 in the first quarter – and five rebounds. Five Sky players scored in double figures.
DeWanna Bonner led the Mercury with 30 points – 20 in the second half – and 13 rebounds, both season highs. The Mercury were without Diana Taurasi because of a suspension for receiving her seventh technical foul and Leilani Mitchell, who was out for personal reasons.
Brittney Griner, who has been dealing with back spasms, played despite missing practice Tuesday. But Griner’s night was cut short as she was ejected at the 9:26 mark of the second quarter. Griner was whistled for a Flagrant 2 foul on Sky center Stephanie Dolson.
As Dolson defended Griner on the low block, Dolson fell to the ground clutching her right cheek.
“Well, she’s getting hit a lot during the game,” Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello said. “She’s gotta maintain her composure a little bit. If she’s getting hit we gotta be a little bit more fair in that regard. Look, I can’t get involved with the referees, that’s their decisions. We’ve just got to make sure that we kinda understand what’s happening and maintain our composure.”
After trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, the Mercury made their run in the third quarter.
Bonner led the charge with 10 points in each of the third and fourth quarters. But her efforts weren’t enough.
“Just trying to get a win, I just wanted to win,” Bonner said. “I knew we were a little short-handed, and when BG went out, it was just all gas right there. We had to just go for it. I mean, can’t hold back at that point, we lost a lot.”
The Mercury shot 28.9 percent in the first half while the Sky made 65.6 percent of their tries. The shooting percentages were closer in the second half as the Mercury defense limited Chicago to 15 points in the third quarter.
Phoenix is now on its third threegame losing streak of the season and has surrendered at least 100 points for the third time.
“If you look at the league, look at the standings, there’s other teams in our situation as well who’ve lost a few players,” Brondello said. “It’s a grind. It just shows how the parity of the league is amazing because anyone can beat anyone.”