After a 1-4 homestand, the Phoenix Mercury hit the road Saturday to face a Seattle Storm team battling for one of the top four spots heading into the WNBA playoffs.
The Storm (20-14) are coming off a 77-70 loss at the New York Liberty on Thursday. Heading into Friday’s action, Seattle was 1 1/2 games behind the Las Vegas Aces for the No. 4 seed.
The Storm have six regular-season games remaining, two of them against the Mercury (17-18) — on Saturday and in the finale at Phoenix on Sept. 19.
Williams had 17 points against New York while former Mercury player Skylar Diggins-Smith led the team with 21.
Diggins-Smith, a six-time WNBA All-Star, signed with the Storm as a free agent in February after playing her three previous seasons (2020-22) with the Mercury.
In the only previous meeting this season between the Mercury and Storm, Diggins-Smith had 14 points and eight assists in Seattle’s 87-78 loss at Phoenix on June 16.
Phoenix clinched a playoff berth with a 74-66 win over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night, its only win of the five-game homestand.
The Mercury are coming off a 90-77 loss to the Washington Mystics, an 11-23 team still challenging for the final playoff spot.
Brittney Griner had 15 points and five rebounds against the Mystics. Diana Taurasi was held to eight points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field.
Natasha Cloud finished with 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting in her return from a one-game suspension after she was assessed with her seventh technical foul of the season.
