Diana Taurasi, Sophie Cunningham lead Mercury to victory over Liberty, former head coach

Diana Taurasi and Sophie Cunningham put on a show for their former coach on Thursday night.

Sandy Brondello, who coached the Mercury from 2013-21, returned to the Footprint Center for the first time as head coach of the New York Liberty. The Mercury (10-14) never trailed in the 84-81 victory.

Brondello coached Taurasi for 10 years — eight in the Mercury organization and two overseas in Russia.

“When someone's in your life for that long, 10 years, not only on the basketball court, off the court, you have a lot of memories,” Taurasi said. “She's the most giving, most humble coach I've ever been around. And the one thing I appreciated the most about her is she treated everyone the same.”

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With 23 points and six field goals on Thursday night, Taurasi became the first WNBA player in history to make 3,000 field goals.

“It only took 18 years, finally got there,” Taurasi said. “I mean, that's just a product of playing a lot and being here for a long time.”

Cunningham matched Taurasi’s 23 points on Thursday night to lead the team. But for Cunningham, it was a career high.

The Mercury got off to a fast start on Thursday night, taking advantage of the Liberty’s second-day legs — New York beat the Las Vegas Aces, 116-107, on Thursday night.

After an early 12-4 Mercury lead, New York took a timeout three minutes into the game. The Liberty still couldn’t find their stride throughout the first quarter, however, trailing 29-18 after 10 minutes.

Cunningham nearly outscored New York in the first quarter, bucketing 17 points compared to the Liberty’s 18 in the 10-minute span.

Cunningham went 10-of-15 from the field on Thursday, including 3-of-8 from the 3-point line.

Her previous career high was 19 points, set on June 28, 2019 against Indiana.

“When she's hot, they know to get her the ball,” Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard said. “And she was really prepared to have a great performance tonight, and playing with so much confidence. Sophie is a leader for us, and she leads with enthusiasm.”

Although Phoenix never trailed during the game, New York made a push for the lead during the final seconds. The Liberty got within one point with 13 seconds left in the game after stopping the clock with a foul on Skylar Diggins-Smith, conceding two free throws for a chance at a game-tying shot at the buzzer.

But the Mercury locked down, preventing the Liberty from getting a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

“We were just working on execution at the end of the game,” Nygaard said. “We know that New York can score a lot really quick, we saw some big plays there...we were just trying to control tempo and pace.”

The Mercury will now have five days off for the All-Star break, returning on July 12 against the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis. Diggins-Smith is the only active All-Star for the Mercury.

Nygaard said she’s hoping the break will help her team recharge, and she’s planning to spend time with her kids and hang out by her pool.

Taurasi, a 10-time All-Star who wasn’t selected this season, is excited for the midseason break.

“It'll be nice to get away for a little bit,” Taurasi said. “Obviously, Skylar has to go to All-Star and she’s gonna go there and represent our whole club and everyone here in Phoenix, and X-Factor, and we just have to reload and come back with something to prove.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Taurasi, Cunningham lead Mercury to victory over former head coach, Liberty