Brionna Jones, Marina Mabrey help Sun beat Mercury

PHOENIX (AP) — Brionna Jones scored 20 points on 10-of-16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, Marina Mabrey added 19 points and the Connecticut Sun beat the Phoenix Mercury 88-69 on Friday night.

Tyasha Harris hit a 3-pointer that made it 11-8 at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter and Connecticut (27-10) led the rest of the way en route to its third straight victory. With the win, the Sun remained one game behind the Minnesota Lynx for second place in the WNBA standings and four games behind the first place New York Liberty.

DeWanna Bonner scored 14 points, Harris had 12 and Alyssa Thomas finished with 11 assists to go with seven points for the Sun.

Phoenix (17-20) has lost six of its last seven games, including three straight since defeating the Atlanta Dream 74-66 on Sept. 3 to clinch the postseason. The Mercury had their streak of 10 consecutive playoff appearances last season, winning just nine games and posting the second-worst winning percentage in franchise history (.225).

Brittney Griner went 11 of 15 from the field and finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks for the Mercury. Natasha Cloud scored 17 points with seven assists and Diana Taurasi had seven points on 2-of-10 shooting with four assists.

Connecticut had a 22-17 lead after the first quarter and grew that lead to 46-38 at the half.

A jumper by Cloud cut the Suns’ lead to 48-42 at the 7:31 mark of the third, but Connecticut responded with a 22-0 run to take a commanding 70-44 lead into the fourth.

The Sun outscored the Mercury 24-6 in the third quarter as the Phoenix shot 3-of-20 from the field, including 0-for-10 from 3-point range. That tied for the Mercury’s lowest-ranked quarter of the season.