Kahleah Copper scores 25 points as Mercury come from behind to beat Valkyries 98-91

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Kahleah Copper scored 25 points with five 3-pointers, Satou Sabally scored 10 of her 17 points after halftime, and the Phoenix Mercury came back to beat the short-handed Golden State Valkyries 98-91 on Tuesday night.

Veronica Burton scored 13 of her 24 points in the second quarter and dished out a career-high 14 assists as Golden State took control, but the team couldn’t make the key defensive plays down the stretch.

The Mercury roared back late with a 20-8 run over nearly seven minutes before Carla Leite’s 3-pointer for the Valkyries with 6:33 remaining.

Alyssa Thomas added 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Phoenix, which outscored Golden State 21-14 in the third quarter to get within 73-68. The Mercury pulled to 77-76 on Sabally’s 3 at the 8:39 mark of the fourth then she put her team ahead on a layup the next time down.

Leite wound up with 15 points in her sixth start. Janelle Salaun added 13 points – 11 in the opening period for her best scoring performance in one quarter – and six rebounds.

Golden State trailed 23-16 after Kathryn Westbeld’s 3-pointer at the 3:34 mark of the first quarter then responded with a 24-8 run.

Kate Martin scored 14 points for the Valkyries on a night leading scorer Tiffany Hayes was held out to rest. Forward Cecilia Zandalasini was a late scratch because of a left calf injury after she had been scheduled to start and Martin moved into her spot.

Golden State lost back-to-back home games for the first time at Chase Center, where the Valkyries drew a crowd of 18,064 to sell out a 17th straight game in their inaugural season.

Center Iliana Rupert was day-to-day recovering from a concussion sustained in the third quarter of Sunday’s loss to Atlanta.

The teams meet again Friday night in Phoenix.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball