Sun advances to road victory over Mercury

Brionna Jones scored 20 points and Marina Mabrey added 19 off the bench as the visiting Connecticut Sun extended its 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 went 4-0 this season against Phoenix, winning each game by double digits.

The Sun fell one game behind second-place Minnesota and will host the Lynx on Thursday after playing their final regular-season road game 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 ppg) because of a back injury, as she missed a game for the first time this season.

Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi shot 2 of 10 from the field and scored seven points.

The Sun led by as many as seven points in the first quarter and by the end of the first period held a 22-17 advantage. The lead grew to 11 points in the second quarter and Connecticut went into the break with a 46-38 lead thanks to 13 points from Mabrey and 10 from Jones.

The Sun established firm control with a 22-0 run in the third quarter and led 70-44 at the end. Phoenix shot just 15 percent (3 of 20) from the field in the third quarter and missed all 10 of its 3-point attempts.

The Mercury finished 6 of 33 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range in the game, while the Sun finished 8 of 26 (30.9 percent) from long range.

Connecticut has a 14-5 road record 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