Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner lead Phoenix Mercury in win vs. Dallas Wings

Playing without Diana Taurasi in the lineup for the second consecutive game, the Phoenix Mercury were bolstered by big performances from Kahleah Copper and Brittney Griner on Wednesday.

The cheers were loud as the Mercury (12-10) delivered a 100-84 win at Footprint Center in a matinee game against the Dallas Wings (5-18). The game was featured as Camp Day, with the Mercury hosting 110 busloads of youths from local camps in the stands.

After falling into an eight-point deficit in the first quarter, the Mercury fired back in the second quarter and didn’t surrender the lead in the final home game before the Olympic break.

Copper electrified the Mercury with 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting, while the team shot 36-for-61 (59%) from the floor. Griner added 23 points and knocked down two 3-point attempts.

The Mercury lineup was boosted with starting wing Becca Allen back from a lower back injury. She contributed eight points in 20 minutes, which were restricted as she works back from the injury.

Taurasi remains day-to-day with a left lower leg injury. She last appeared on July 3 against the Wings where she played 30 minutes and scored 16 points. Taurasi, along with Copper and Griner, was named to Team USA for the upcoming Paris Olympics.

After building an early lead, Phoenix allowed a 14-5 Dallas. Wings’ power forward Natasha Howard, who scored 36 points in the teams’ previous meeting, scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first quarter but was held to just nine points and three shot attempts the rest of the game.

“Defensively, we rebounded the ball better,” head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “Kiki (Herbert Harrigan) really stepped up and we kept her in the starting lineup because we wanted her to go to Howard. There were some switches with some players and we wanted to not have (Natasha) Cloud wrestle with a (power forward). I thought Kiki did a good job of being physical and making her work, especially in the last three quarters.”

Facing one of the biggest frontcourts in the WNBA, the Mercury were outmatched early in the paint and surrendered 18 points from the Wings. The Mercury adjusted and limited the Wings to single digits in the paint in every quarter after.

Herbert Harrigan started the second consecutive game for Phoenix and looked more confident. Herbert Harrigan blocked Sevgi Uzun‘s layup attempt at 6:37 in the second quarter and then went 2-for-2 on field goals to help the Mercury cut the Wings’ lead to three. Herbert Harrigan finished with 12 points, including two 3-pointers.

Before coming to the Mercury this season, Herbert Harrigan played 22 games across two years in the WNBA.

“I belong in the W, I feel like I’ve always said that,” Herbert Harrigan said. “I put in the work every day, so every time it goes up, I think it’s going to go in.”

The Mercury’s next game is Friday at 4:30 p.m., when they visit Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.

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