Mercury even WNBA Finals with 91-86 overtime win over Sky
PHOENIX — Brittney Griner dunked while scoring 29 points, Diana Taurasi had eight of her 20 points in overtime and the Phoenix Mercury evened the WNBA Finals with a 91-86 win over the Chicago Sky on Wednesday night in Game 2.
Griner kept the Mercury within reach of Chicago during a sluggish start and brought the Phoenix Suns players sitting courtside to their feet with her second career playoff dunk in the first quarter. She scored on a turnaround jump to help give Phoenix a late four-point lead in regulation, but just missed blocking Courtney Vandersloot’s tying layup with 4.4 seconds left.
“I mean BG was so big for us the whole game,” Taurasi said. “She’s just incredible. She kept us in the game when we weren’t playing well.”
Taurasi opened overtime with a four-point play and added a 3-pointer that put Phoenix up 89-86 with 1:24 left. She then came up with a huge defensive play, getting a steal with 36 seconds left.
Skylar Diggins-Smith, who had 13 points and 12 assists, sealed it on a layup with 12.8 seconds left.
“In overtime we let it rip,” Taurasi said. “We talked to each other and said it will be our best five minutes of basketball and it happened.”
Vandersloot led the Sky with 20 points and 14 assists. Allie Quigley added 19 points.
SOCCER
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tim Weah scored his second international goal in the 66th minute after Sergiño Dest started the comeback from a first-minute deficit, and the United
States rallied past Costa Rica 2-1 to ease pressure as World Cup qualifying neared the halfway point.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, one of nine new starters inserted by coach Gregg Berhalter following Sunday’s dismal 1-0 loss at Panama, made a costly headed clearance that led to Keysher Fuller’s goal 60 seconds in, the fastest goal conceded by the U.S. in 23 years.
Dest, another new starter by his rotation-emphasizing coach, tied it in the 25th minute when he curled a shot past Keylor Navas.
Nevas, one of the world’s top goalkeepers, strained an adductor muscle and was replaced by Leonel Moreiera at the start of the second half.
Weah’s only other goal was in an exhibition against Bolivia in May 2018.