Mercury beat Valkyries on Alyssa Thomas’ last-second free throw

Alyssa Thomas sealed a dramatic win for the short-handed Phoenix Mercury on Monday night, hitting the second of two free throws with just one second left to lift her team past the Golden State Valkyries, 78-77. The Mercury, down to only eight players due to injuries, extended their winning streak to three games with the clutch road victory.

Thomas, who finished with 17 points and a game-high 11 assists, earned her free throws after drawing a foul on a potential game-winning layup following a timeout with 6.1 seconds left. She missed the first but calmly sank the second to break the tie.



The finish capped a wild final sequence in which Golden State rallied from a four-point deficit in the last 15.1 seconds. Janelle Salaun hit a three-pointer, DeWanna Bonner added a free throw for Phoenix, and then Salaun struck again with a 17-foot jumper to tie the game at 77.


Bonner led all scorers with 22 points and added 11 rebounds for a double-double in just her second game back with Phoenix. Kathryn Westbeld chipped in 14 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Mercury hit 12-of-29 from deep (41.4%).


Golden State shot even better from long range, going 14-for-33 (42.4%). Veronica Burton led the Valkyries with 17 points and six assists, including four triples. Tiffany Hayes added 15 points on 4-of-5 3-point shooting, while Salaun and Monique Billings contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Valkyries have now dropped four of their last five games.