Phoenix Mercury overcome slow start against New York Liberty to tie score at halftime

The Phoenix Mercury worked their way back from a slow start against the New York Liberty to a tied score, 38-38, at halftime at Footprint Center on Monday.

Even with Brittney Griner beginning the game with a stepback shot, the Mercury didn’t find an offensive rhythm early on. The Liberty went on a 9-2 run off three consecutive 3s from Courtney Vandersloot, Breanna Stewart, and Jonquel Jones during the quarter and held the Mercury to five points after that run to make it 18-9.

Both teams had issues in the first quarter, combining for 14 turnovers, but the Mercury seemed to have more trouble with eight turnovers.

The Mercury cleaned their game in the second quarter with four turnovers. Kahleah Copper posted eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and guided the Mercury to outscoring the Liberty 29-20 in the second quarter. Copper and Diana Taurasi lead with 10 points, while Stewart leads all scorers with 11.

The Mercury are vying to keep the sixth seed in the upcoming WNBA playoffs, but the Indiana Fever (14-16) made it tighter with a win over the Atlanta Dream on Monday. The Fever now trail the Mercury by two games and hold the season series tiebreaker after sweeping the Mercury.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Mercury overcome slow first quarter against New York Liberty