Sun Rally Late to Overcome Mercury, 87-84
Published on September 6, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Connecticut Sun News Release
Uncasville, CT - Today, the Connecticut Sun (11-31) defeated the Phoenix Mercury (27-15), 87-84, at home in Uncasville. With the victory, the Sun move back into the win column after a three-game skid and the Mercury drop their first contest after winning their last six. The Sun moved to 1-2 against the Mercury during the 2025 regular season.
Marina Mabrey led Connecticut in scoring with 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 37 minutes of action. It marks her eighth 20+ point performance of the 2025 season and 12th time this year she had led the team in scoring output.
Tina Charles added a double-double in the win, notching 22 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 34 minutes played. Charles has notched seven double-doubles this season and has finished with 20+ points on 15 occasions. She is now just 18 points from tying DeWanna Bonner (697) for most points in a single season in franchise history.
Rookie guard Leila Lacan rounded out the Sun's double-digit scorers today with 14 points, one rebound and one steal. Aneesah Morrow added nine points, a team-high 13 rebounds and one assist, while Saniya Rivers notched six points, six rebounds, five assists, one steal and two blocks. With the one steal and two blocks, Rivers moved into first all-time in "stocks" by a rookie in a single season in Sun history (98), passing Taj McWilliams-Franklin (95).
The Sun jumped out to a 17-12 lead over the Mercury with 4:56 to play in the first quarter. Marina Mabrey tallied nine of Connecticut's 17 to begin the game. A 4-0 run by the Sun pushed their lead to as large as nine in the first, but the Mercury closed the quarter on 6-5 spurt to close the gap to eight, 26-18, heading into the second. Marina Mabrey led the Sun with 11 points, while Tina Charles added 10 points, two rebounds and one block in the first quarter.
Phoenix began the second quarter on a 6-0 run to force Connecticut into a timeout with 8:56 to play in the first half, 26-24. The Mercury outscored the Sun, 32-21, in the second quarter to take a three-point lead into the locker room, 50-47. Tina Charles led all scorers at the break with 16 points, five rebounds, one assist and one block. Marina Mabrey added 14 points, four rebounds and one assist through two quarters of play.
Both teams struggled from the floor to begin the second half, with the Mercury starting the third on a 5-3 run to take a 55-50 lead with 4:36 to play in the quarter. The Sun closed the third on a 14-8 run to take a 64-63 lead into the fourth. Marina Mabrey tallied eight of her 23 points in the third quarter to lead Connecticut in the ten minutes coming out of the locker room.
The Mercury started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 71-64 lead and force the Sun into a timeout with 7:54 to play in the game. The Sun responded on a 12-2 run to take a 76-73 lead over the Mercury with 3:40 to go in the fourth. Connecticut held a 78-73 lead with 3:24 to play, but Phoenix went on an 8-2 run to take an 81-80 advantage with 1:26 to go and force the Sun into a timeout.
Aneesah Morrow drew a flagrant foul on Phoenix's Satou Sabally going for an offensive rebound which put her at the free-throw line, where she hit one of two to tie the game, 81-81, with 1:11 to go. The Mercury's Alyssa Thomas drew a shooting foul on the other end but missed both free-throw attempts with 44.4 seconds on the clock. Leila Lacan broke the tie with a driving lay-up putting the Sun up 83-81 with 27.8 seconds to go. The Sun's defense produced another stop, and Leila Lacan went back to the free-throw line, sinking a pair, giving Connecticut an 85-81 lead with 9.7 seconds left. The Mercury advanced the ball after a timeout and Satou Sabally sank a three-point field goal with 5.6 left on the clock, 85-84. Lacan was fouled once more and went to the free-throw line with 3.7 seconds left putting the Sun up 87-84. A last second three-point field goal by Kahleah Copper was no good for the Mercury and the Sun hung on for the win.
The Sun shot 44.4% (28/63) from the field, while the Mercury finished 40.8% (29/71) from the floor on the day. Phoenix held the advantage from beyond the arc, going 11/32 (34.4%), while Connecticut shot just 5/16 (31.2%) from three-point range.
Connecticut won the battle in the paint (40-34) and second chance points (9-8), while Phoenix won the fast break (21-9) and bench production (27-16).
Kahleah Copper finished with 18 points, two assists and one steal to lead the Mercury in scoring. Alyssa Thomas added 14 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. With 10 assists in the game, Thomas now has 342 assists this season, the most assists by a player in a single season in WNBA history.
Team Score Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 PTS REB AST
CON 87 26 21 17 23 Mabrey- 23 Morrow- 13 Rivers- 5
PHO 84 18 32 13 21 Copper- 18 Mack- 9 Thomas- 10
NEXT GAME: The Connecticut Sun take on the Atlanta Dream in their last road game on Monday, September 8 at 7:30 PM ET at the Gateway Center Arena.
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