Sun Cruise takes victory over Mercury

Brionna Jones scored 20 points and Marina Mabrey added 19 off the bench as the visiting Connecticut Sun extended their winning streak to three games with an easy 88-69 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Friday.

DeWanna Bonner scored 14 points and Tyasha Harris had 12 as the Sun (27-10) won for the eighth time in their last 11 games while improving to 5-3 since clinching a playoff spot on Aug. 24. Alyssa Thomas had 11 assists.

Connecticut finished the season 4-0 against Phoenix, winning each game by double digits.

The Sun remained one game behind second-place Minnesota and will host the Lynx on Thursday after playing their final road game of the regular season in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Brittney Griner had 26 points and nine rebounds and Natasha Cloud added 17 points for the Mercury (17-20), who clinched a playoff spot on Sept. 3. Phoenix was without leading scorer Kahleah Copper (21.6 points per game) because of a back injury, missing a game for the first time this season.

Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi shot 2 of 10 from the field while scoring seven points.

The Sun led by seven points in the first quarter and led 22-17 at the end of the first half. The gap grew to 11 points in the second quarter and Connecticut took a 46-38 halftime lead on 13 points from Mabrey and 10 points from Jones.

The Sun took control of the game with a 22-0 third-quarter run and took a 70-44 lead into the fourth. Phoenix shot just 15 percent (3 of 20) from the field in the third quarter and missed all 10 of its three-point attempts.

The Mercury finished the game 6 of 33 (18.2 percent) from three-point range, while the Sun shot 8 of 26 (30.9 percent) from three-point range.

Connecticut is 14-5 away from home this season, second best in the league behind the New York Liberty’s 15-4 mark.

Phoenix visits the Chicago Sky on Sunday.

–Field level media