Tina Charles scored a season-high 29 points, and the Phoenix Mercury won on the road over the Indiana Fever, 93-80, Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
It’s a bounce-back victory for the Mercury (6-9) after they lost Tuesday night in Washington. The Fever (4-13) have now lost six of their last seven games.
Charles also had seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks for the Mercury. Diana Taurasi added 17 points, Diamond DeShields had 16 and Skylar Diggins-Smith chipped in 13 — adding six assists and five rebounds.
Indiana was led by Kelsey Mitchell’s 26 points. No. 2 overall pick NaLyssa Smith grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, but scored just four points on 1-of-7 shooting from the floor. Victoria Vivians had 14 points and Queen Egbo posted 12.
The Mercury nearly led wire-to-wire, taking the lead for good at the 5:24 mark in the first quarter on a driving layup from Charles, which was the start of a 19-7 run for Phoenix. The Mercury then pushed their lead to 19 points in the second quarter, beginning the frame with a 13-3 run — a stretch in which DeShields had four points and two assists.
Phoenix would go on to lead by as many as 23 points.
Indiana made just two 3-pointers in the first half and knocked down just 6-for-21 from deep for the game — a 28.6 percent clip.
The Fever outscored the Mercury 25-21 in the third quarter, largely due to Mitchell’s 15 points in the period. For the game, the fifth-year pro shot 10-for-20 from the floor and 3-for-8 from behind the arc.
Phoenix shot a superb 50.7 percent from the floor. It’s the fourth time this season the Mercury have topped 50 percent in shooting, and they are now 3-1 in those games.
Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham missed her fourth straight game with an elbow injury.
–Field Level Media