Griner scores 17, loses cool in loss
SEATTLE — With 6-foot-8 rookie sensation Brittney Griner patrolling the paint for the Mercury, the Seattle Storm used their outside shooting to secure the victory.
Tanisha Wright scored 20 points, Camille Little had 13 and Shekinna Stricklen added 11 to lead the Storm to a 75-72 win over the Mercury on Sunday night.
Seattle (1-1) shot 8 for 19 (42 percent) on 3-pointers, rallying from an early 11-point deficit.
“We have post players who can stretch the defense,” Storm guard Temeka Johnson said. “It’s not just because we were playing against Griner. It’s like that against any team. It just worked in our favor tonight.”
Candice Dupree had 18 points and Griner added 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots to lead the Mercury (0-2). DeWanna Bonner scored11points and Diana Taurasi had 10.
“They hit some shots,” Mercury coach Corey Gaines said, “and we didn’t shoot well.”
After Taurasi’s jumper pulled the Mercury to 68-67 with 2:31 to go, Noelle Quinn followed with a basket 20 seconds later.
Griner, who had 18 points and two dunks in her WNBAdebut in a loss to Chicago on Monday, had another dunk with 1:15 remaining but it was waved off due to a charging foul on teammate Alexis Hornbuckle.
Little then hit her second 3 of the game with 57.6 seconds remaining to stretch the lead to 7367.
Dupree’s jumper pulled the Mercury within four with 7.2 seconds remaining, but Wright made two free throws 2 seconds later to seal the win.
Bonner’s 3 — the Mercury’s first of the game — with less than a second left provided the final margin. The Mercury finished 1 for 4 on 3s.
Griner took just three shots in the fourth quarter, going scoreless over the final 7:47 after making 1 of 2 free throws.
“We’re an inside-outside team,” she said. “It’s not like they’re always coming to me. We’ve got scorers all around.”
Griner was whistled for two fouls in a span of 5 seconds early in the third quarter, including a flagrant on a hard screen, helping spark Seattle’s 10-0 run.
She was called for her fourth foul with 2 minutes left in the
Phoenix Bonner 33:08 4-12 2-2 1-5 2 1 11 Dupree 36:28 7-11 4-4 0-5 0 0 18 Griner 36:20 8-15 1-4 3-7 2 4 17 Taurasi 31:04 5-11 0-0 0-1 1 5 10 Prahalis 23:31 3-9 0-0 1-4 2 4 6 Houston 14:16 2-2 0-0 2-4 6 2 4 Hornbuckle 16:29 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 4 2 Thomas 5:08 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 2 Gilbreath 3:36 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 200:00 32-65 7-10 7-29 13 21 72 Percentages: FG .492, FT .700. 3-point goals: 1-4, .250 (Bonner 1-3, Hornbuckle 0-1). Team rebounds: 5. Team turnovers: 13 (16 PTS). Blocked shots: 3 (Griner 3). Turnovers: 12 (Griner 3, Hornbuckle 3, Bonner 2, Taurasi 2, Houston, Prahalis). Steals: 3 (Bonner, Griner, Hornbuckle). Technical fouls: Griner, 3:33 fourth. Flagrant fouls: Griner, 7:47 third. Seattle Phoenix 22 Seattle 16 A— 9,686 (9,686). T—1:58. Officials—Roy Gulbeyan, Brenda Pantoja, Cameron Inouye. quarter, then drew a technical when she spiked the ball in frustration off the media table behind the basket with 3:33 remaining in the game. 16 19
FG FT Reb Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
FG FT Reb Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Quinn 29:17 3-6 2-2 0-5 0 1 9 Thompson 25:47 3-8 0-0 0-6 1 3 7 Little 36:28 3-10 5-6 3-5 1 2 13 Johnson 29:43 4-13 0-0 2-4 6 3 9 Wright 34:52 7-11 5-5 2-5 3 3 20 Sanford 14:40 3-4 0-2 1-5 1 3 6 Stricklen 20:58 4-11 1-2 0-2 0 0 11 Clark 5:10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Hawkins 3:05 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200:00 27-63 13-17 8-32 12 16 75 Percentages: FG .429, FT .765. 3-point goals: 8-19, .421 (Little 2-4, Stricklen 2-6, Johnson 1-2, Quinn 1-2, Thompson 1-2, Wright 1-3). Team rebounds:10. team turnovers:17 (22 PTS). Blocked shots: 1 (Quinn). Turnovers: 14 (Little 3, Thompson 3, Johnson 2, Sanford 2, Stricklen 2, Quinn, Wright). Steals: 2 (Quinn, Stricklen). Technical Fouls: None. 18 25 16 — 15 — 72 75