Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner lead Phoenix Mercury in win over Seattle Storm

The Phoenix Mercury had another strong start and this time remained consistent after the first quarter to defeat the Seattle Storm 87-78 at Footprint Center Sunday.

With Brittney Griner back in the lineup, the difference between the Mercury team that lost by 18 points in Seattle earlier this month and Sunday’s team was clear. Griner scored 28 points and had nine rebounds. Only Kahleah Copper scored more with 30 points for Phoenix.

Griner clamped down on Storm center Ezi Magbegor, who scored 21 points in the previous game. On Sunday, she was held to eight points through three quarters and finished with 14 points.

“The first games have been stressful and have been back-and-forth and we’re not playing very well, but that was the first one we have led from start to finish,” head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “I think we had potential, it’s just us deciding we can be that team each and every night. I thought up until the last five minutes of the fourth, that’s when things got a little bit close, but we stepped up and made some plays at the end.”

The Mercury (7-7) will end the homestand with the New York Liberty (12-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Dominant first half

Much like in Thursday’s game against the Las Vegas Aces, the Mercury’s offense started quickly with Copper’s 11 points leading the 25-point first quarter. The Storm were limited to 19 points as the starting five was led by Nneka Ogwumike’s five points.

Much like in Thursday’s game, the Storm started to gain momentum at the end of the first quarter, but instead of dominating the second, the Mercury maintained momentum with three 3-pointers.

The Storm mounted a 6-0 run after Copper’s 3-pointer at 3:57 to trail 40-29, but the Mercury made key stops as the Storm missed three field goal attempts.

The Mercury fared well after the first half and shot 17-for-32 (53.1%) and went 6-for-11 on 3-pointers (54.5%). Copper and Griner were leading the way, with 17 points and 15 points. Natasha Cloud kept the ball movement going and dished out five assists.

“When our defense is good, our offense is even better,” Copper said. “We’re able to get out of transition and not taking the ball out. Credit to the first half, we were locked in and communicating. I think we’re going to continue to get it together for four quarters. I’m just proud of our defense because this game it was really rolling.”

Sharp shooting

The Storm had its best chances to pull away in the second half, but the Mercury didn’t go cold and found help either from Copper and Griner or from Natasha Mack’s six points off the bench.

The Mercury shot 52.4% in the first quarter (11-for-21), 8-for-11 (72.2%) in the second, 7-for-15 in the third quarter (46.6%), and 7-for-15 (46.6%) in the fourth quarter. Inside, the Mercury did well with 44 points in the paint.

There wasn’t much the Storm could do offensively on the glass against the Mercury’s defense. The Storm finished with 10 offensive rebounds, but were shut out from grabbing offensive boards in the second half.

Storm point guard Jewell Loyd normally averages 20.2 points per game, but went 3-of-15 from the floor after being guarded by Copper. Loyd finished with 14 points, but got most of it from her free-throw shooting where she went 8-of-10.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner lead Mercury in win over Storm