PHOENIX (AP) — Alyssa Thomas had a 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in her fifth career playoff triple-double, and the Phoenix Mercury advanced to the second round of the WNBA playoffs by eliminating the defending champion New York Liberty 79-73 in Game 3 on Friday night.

Satou Sabally added 23 points and 12 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Mercury, who play at top-seeded Minnesota on Sunday to start the best-of-five semifinal round.

Thomas has five of the seven WNBA playoff triple-doubles.

Sami Whitcomb scored 13 points and Kahleah Copper had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Mercury, who had a 49-33 advantage on the boards. DeWanna Bonner had eight rebounds to pass Candace Parker for the most boards in playoff history with 614.

Breanna Stewart, five days after spraining the MCL

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