HIGHLIGHTS

• With the win, the Mercury advance to the second round of the 2018 WNBA Playoffs, and will head out to Uncasville, Connecticut to face off against the No. 4 ranked Sun Thursday, August 23rd at Mohegan Sun arena, tip will be shortly after 5:30 p.m. Phoenix time.

• The Trio of DeWanna Bonner (29), Diana Taurasi (26) and Brittney Griner (17) all scored 12-plus points in tonight’s game. The Mercury held a record of 19-5 in the regular season when all three players scored 12-plus points.

• Phoenix’s 101-point performance marks the first time the Mercury has scored 100 points in a playoff game since 2016 when the team defeated the New York Liberty in the second round of the playoffs, 101-94, at Madison Square Garden. Phoenix was a perfect 3-0 in the regular season when scoring 100-plus points.

• Phoenix hit 13-of-29 shots from three-point range in the contest, the team was 11-1 in the regular season when making 10-plus three-pointers.

• Four of five Mercury starters scored in double figures on the night including two scoring 20-plus points (Diana Taurasi and DeWanna Bonner), the Mercury was 6-2 in the regular season when four players scored 10-plus points in the game.

• The Mercury is a perfect 3-0 in games played on ESPN2 this season.

• Diana Taurasi, who ranks third on the WNBA’s all-time playoff scoring average list with a 20.8 point per game average, scored 26 points and tied her playoff career high for assists dishing out 12 dimes. The game marks the first time in her playoff career that Taurasi recorded a 20-plus point, 10-plus assist game after recording two in the 2018 regular season.

• DeWanna Bonner all scorers, putting up a playoff career-high 29 points, while adding 11 rebounds to record the third double-double of her playoff career. Her 12 made field goals tie her career-high mark and are a playoff career high.

• Stephanie Talbot recorded her first career double-double, securing a career-high 11 rebounds, while scoring a playoff career-high 11 points.

• Dallas’ Liz Cambage recorded a double-double posting 22 points and 11 rebounds, she also added six assists.

• Dallas’ Skylar Diggins-Smith scored a team-high 23 points, adding seven assists and four rebounds.

Quotes:

Phoenix Mercury:

MERCURY HEAD COACH SANDY BRONDELLO……………………………………………………………………………………….

(On the game…)

“We were very satisfied with the win tonight. It was a close game in that first half. We had really great energy coming out of the locker room and we got the separation that we needed. Defensively, Diggins and Cambage were hurting us a little bit at the start, but we just picked up the aggressiveness on the defensive end and we hit shots. Really that was the big difference and we’re excited to be moving on.”

(On halftime adjustments…)

“We have a team full of veterans and a team full of winners. It was more about getting a little bit more aggressive. I thought with Diggins it was a lot of one-on-one, we had to bring a little more congestion to her. I thought we were a little bit too aggressive on the ball initially in that first half. We told DB to get a little bit more aggressive in the pick and rolls when Diggins did come close to her, and the same thing with Liz when her back was to the basket. We had to rely on our rotations and our scramble defense. Basically that was what it was about, and we made some shots.”

(On Taurasi making plays in the second half…)

“She just makes plays, as the greatest player of all time, that’s just what she does. And it’s not just scoring obviously. She can score, we know that, she’s one of the greatest scorers to ever play the game, but it’s just her vision. She makes the right passes. She had 12 (assists) tonight, but the two games before that she had 14 assists along with scoring 20-plus points. That’s pretty impressive for someone at 36 years of age, and the amount of minutes I’ve played her all season long. She has to be right up there for the MVP in my opinion.”

Mercury Guard Diana Taurasi…………………………………………………………………… 26 points | 12 Assists

(On the game…)

“We knew the circumstances today. It’s been an up and down season for us, but at the core of it we know we’re a really good team and it’s just getting to the point of playing like it. We’re finally at the point where we’re comfortable knowing what we need to do to get it done. I think today, against a tough Dallas team, which we knew was going to be a physical and aggressive game, I think we did all the things that benefitted us throughout the 40 minutes.”

(On the second half…)

“I think at half time, when you can make in game adjustments like that and really focus on the things we needed to clean up to get some separation, I think it shows the maturity and experience of this team. These games can sometimes get a bit overwhelming. Things can go a bit fast and you don’t know the things you need to get done. I think at halftime today we knew the things on the defensive end that we really needed to clean up, and we came out in the third quarter and did that. The offense usually takes care of itself.”

Mercury guard Dewanna Bonner……………………………………………………….. 29 points | 11 Rebounds

(On being ready for passes from Taurasi…)

“This is eight or nine years in the making right here. I know her pretty well, and I’m always ready when D has the ball. But sometimes she surprises me too.”

(On hitting deep threes…)

“Hey, it went in today. We got the win, and that’s all that matters. As long as it goes in, backboard, side of the backboard, under the backboard, as long as it goes in, and they went in today.”

Wings Quotes:

WIngs HEAD COACH Taj McWilliams-Franklin……………………………………………………………………………………..

(Opening statement…)

“I think our tem really battled. Phoenix played out of their minds and had some great shooting from their big three and they really carried them throughout the game. Our players took a hit, kept going, kept pushing, and we’re really proud of the future of the Dallas Wings.”

(On Phoenix’s third quarter run…)

“Our kids are young. This is the millennial generation. They have short memories which is great because they still kept pushing, and in the fourth quarter we got it down to 15. When you have confidence the basket is humongous. Dewanna Bonner hitting the two bank-shots, Dianna Taurasi hitting the three with one-second on the shot-clock, you cannot say that there’s a defense we can run for that; that’s just good old fashion luck. But we lost by more than just those nine points. The rest of it is on us and our defense on them.”

(On transition from Assistant to Head Coach)

“Everyone asks me the big change, and I just tell them that I talk more. In practices, in video, and before the game. I think for the players, they understand that what I’m talking about I know about, and that gives me a level of respect whether I am the assistant or the head. I told them I don’t have a formula now that I’m the Interim Head Coach, it’s the same formula we had for the other 18 games: to play as hard as we can, to play quickly, and to defend, and that’s what we’ve been doing all along. And when we have lapses like we did tonight, we end up with scores like tonight.”

(On the overall season)

“Challenging, emotional. I believe that you can’t have a happy ending every time unless you go through some things. You have to have a test for your testimony to work. We’ve gone through a lot of things and I think it makes our players stronger. I was just talking to our leader in the hallway and she is mad more than sad, because she knows we have the potential and we’ve gone through all this stuff for a reason. So even through all the ups and downs of the season we still come out positive about our future and the future of the Wings.”

(On Cambage-Griner matchup)

“I really like that matchup. I like watching it as a fan of basketball. You have two big women playing like the old days, and you haven’t seen that a lot lately. Griner has had matchups where she’s guarded by 6’6 or 6’5 and this is first year Cambage has been back and now you see something that we say with Hakeem Olajuwon and Robert Parish, where there’s two real centers playing each other and trying to get the best result and that’s a great matchup.

Wings Guard Skylar Diggins-Smith…………………………………………………………………….. 23 points | 7 Assists

(On trying to compete bounce back from phoenix’s third quarter runs…)

“Basketball is a game of runs, it’s not something new. They made shots and we turned the ball over. I’m not taking anything away from phoenix tonight, they have a lot of capable scorers and shooters. I thought the biggest difference to me besides the big three was Stephanie Talbot. She got on the boards, a lot of offense rebounds, and a lot of second chance points.”

(On coach Mcwilliams…)

“I played against coach Taj. She’s got a lot of experience, she’s very vocal, not shy… Love her confidence, she believed in us. I have nothing but great things to say about coach Taj. Love her, love her, love her. She knows a lot about this game. She’s won championships and she played for I think 16 years year-round, overseas and in the WNBA. She’s forgotten more basketball than I know.

Wings Center Liz Cambage …………………………………………………………………………… 22 points | 12 rebounds

(On impact of this game on her future with Dallas…)

 “Yeah. Heart break has always made me hungrier. My first taste of the playoffs and it’s left a bitter taste in my mouth. I love this team and I’ve loved my time in Dallas. I’m heartbroken that it’s come to an end. I’m going to miss seeing these girls every day and that little taste makes me want it more, it makes me want to do more, it makes me want to be better with my team. I have to see how I am feeling after China, but I want to be here talking about a win next year. I want a ring and I want to keep playing with Sky (Skylar Diggins). She is the best point-guard in the league. I love this team, we’ve gone through so much this season, and I’ve really loved my time back in the WNBA.”

(On matchup with Griner…)

“We don’t usually play with other players that are as tall or as big as us. There are other big girls in the league but they don’t move like us. I love playing against her. She is a great player and I love the challenge.”