Satou Sabally scored 15 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter and the host Phoenix Mercury beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 84-76 on Friday to take a 2-1 edge in their WNBA semifinal series.

Alyssa Thomas amassed 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while Kahleah Copper also scored 21 points for Phoenix. Thomas passed Sue Bird for the second-most assists in WNBA playoff history.

The fourth-seeded Mercury, who finished the game on a 9-0 run in the last 3 1/2 minutes, can close out the best-of-five series on Sunday at home for their first WNBA Finals appearance since 2021.

Natisha Hiedeman had a career-playoff high 19 points, Napheesa Collier added 17 and Courtney Williams contributed 14 for the Lynx, who have lost two games in a row for only the second time this season.

Thomas

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