Turnovers and a poor shooting night sunk the Phoenix Mercury (0-2 preseason) in their 84-79 loss against the visiting Golden State Valkyries (1-1) Sunday afternoon at PHX Arena.
The Mercury shot 26-of-64 from the field (40.6%) and committed 18 turnovers that led to 32 Golden State points in the loss.
Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas, two members of the Phoenix ‘Big 3,’ each had 15 points. Neither player entered the game in the fourth quarter after the Mercury surrendered a 22-7 third-quarter run and lost a lead as large as 15.
Phoenix is off for five days before it opens its regular season Saturday against former guard Skylar Diggins and the Seattle Storm.