2016 Phoenix Mercury season

2016 Phoenix Mercury season
CoachSandy Brondello
ArenaTalking Stick Resort Arena
Attendance10,351 per game
Results
Record16–18 (.471)
PlaceT-3rd (Western)
Playoff finishLost Semifinal to Minnesota Lynx, 3–0
Team Leaders
PointsDiana Taurasi – 17.8 ppg
ReboundsBrittney Griner – 6.5 rpg
AssistsDiana Taurasi – 3.9 apg

The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season began on May 14, on the road against the Minnesota Lynx.[1] The Mercury began the season with four straight losses. They lost their opening night game 95–76 and followed that with a four-point loss to Indiana and a one-point loss at home against Seattle. They broke the streak with a 93–77 win against Washington. They finished the month with another win to end with a 2–4 record. They began June with two road losses, which they followed with home wins against San Antonio and Chicago. They could not build momentum off those wins as they lost their next game on the road 77–71 against Los Angeles. They then lost two straight, one at home and one away, against Dallas, including a 117–111 overtime home loss. They followed that with two road wins, including an overtime victory over New York, and finished the month with a home win over Connecticut. The team finished 5–5 in June. The Mercury lost four of their first five games of July, with their only win coming on the road against Atlanta. They finished the month 2–1 with defeats of Washington and San Antonio. They went into the Olympic break with a 79–77 loss against Chicago. They went 3–5 in July and had a 10–14 record going into the Olympic break. The team came back from the break and went 3–0 in August, defeating Dallas, Los Angeles, and Indiana, with only the Los Angeles victory coming by less than double digits. They followed those three wins with three losses to start September. They turned their fortunes around to finish the month, going 3–1, with defeats of Atlanta, Seattle, and San Antonio. They finished September with a 3–4 record and a 16–18 overall record.

The Mercury finished tied for third in the Western Conference. They lost the tiebreaker against Seattle, as the season series finished 2–1 in the Storm's favor. This resulted in the Mercury being the eighth, and final seed, in the 2016 WNBA playoffs. As the eighth seed, their First Round match was on the road against the fifth seed, Indiana. The Mercury prevailed 89–78 behind a twenty-point performance from Diana Taurasi. Taurasi turned in a thirty-point performance in the Second Round against the New York Liberty. The game was within two points in the fourth quarter, but a late surge saw the Mercury pull away and win 101–94. The Mercury advanced to the semifinals to face the top seed Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx would go on to sweep the Mercury three games to zero. Game two was the closest of the three games, with the Mercury losing 96–86. Brittney Griner lead the league in blocks, and she was selected to the all-defensive second team. Taurasi was selected to the All-WNBA Second Team.

Transactions

WNBA draft

Main article: 2016 WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 8 Courtney Williams  United States South Florida
2 20 Jillian Alleyne Oregon
3 32 Nirra Fields  Canada UCLA

Trades/Roster Changes

Date Details
February 29, 2016 Signed F Sonja Petrović[2]
May 6, 2016 The Mercury traded Monique Currie to the San Antonio Stars in exchange for the thirteenth pick in the 2017 WNBA draft.[3]
June 23, 2016 Signed G Lindsey Harding[4]
June 25, 2016 The Mercury traded Courtney Williams, the rights to Jillian Alleyne and the thirteenth pick in the 2017 draft to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Kelsey Bone.[5]
The Mercury traded Noelle Quinn to the Seattle Storm for the rights to Angelica Robinson.[6]
July 8, 2016 Re-signed G Marta Xargay[7]

Roster

Source:[8][9]

2016 Phoenix Mercury roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
F8Bass, Mistie6' 3" (1.91m)189 lb (86kg)1983-12-02Duke9
C45Bone, Kelsey6' 4" (1.93m)220 lb (100kg)1991-12-31Texas A&M3
G/F24Bonner, DeWanna6' 4" (1.93m)140 lb (64kg)1987-08-21Auburn7
F4Dupree, Candice6' 2" (1.88m)178 lb (81kg)1984-08-16Temple10
G21Fields, Nirra5' 9" (1.75m)158 lb (72kg)1993-12-03UCLAR
C42Griner, Brittney6' 9" (2.06m)205 lb (93kg)1990-10-18Baylor3
G12Harden, Alex6' 0" (1.83m)173 lb (78kg)1993-03-27Wichita State1
G10Harding, Lindsey5' 8" (1.73m)139 lb (63kg)1984-06-12Duke8
F20Harrison, Isabelle6' 3" (1.91m)183 lb (83kg)1993-07-27TennesseeR
F5Petrović, Sonja6' 2" (1.88m)169 lb (77kg)1989-02-181
G45Quinn, Noelle6' 0" (1.83m)178 lb (81kg)1985-01-03UCLA9
G3Taurasi, Diana6' 0" (1.83m)163 lb (74kg)1982-06-11Connecticut11
F13Taylor, Penny6' 1" (1.85m)165 lb (75kg)1981-05-2412
G11Williams, Courtney5' 8" (1.73m)142 lb (64kg)1994-05-11South FloridaR
G21Xargay, Marta5' 11" (1.8m)160 lb (73kg)1990-12-201
Head coach
Sandy Brondello (Western Sydney)
Assistant coaches
Julie Hairgrove (Arizona)
Todd Troxel (Doane)
Athletic trainer
Tamara Poole (Cal State Dominguez Hills)
Strength and conditioning coach
Kristine Foltz (Iowa State)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Game Log

Preseason

2016 pre-season game log
May: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 May 4 @ Seattle W 81–73 Taylor, Williams (15) Isabelle Harrison (8) Monique Currie (7) KeyArena
3,721 		1–0
2 May 8 Seattle L 70–76 Mistie Bass (14) Bass, Harrison, Petrović (6) Bass, Petrović (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena
4,074 		1–1
2016 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2016 game log
Total: 16–18 (Home: 11–6; Road: 5–12)
May: 2–4 (Home: 2–2; Road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 May 14 @ Minnesota L 76–95 Diana Taurasi (18) Bonner, Griner, Petrović (5) Diana Taurasi (6) Target Center
9,221 		0–1
2 May 18 @ Indiana L 93–97 Diana Taurasi (32) Brittney Griner (9) Diana Taurasi (5) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,749 		0–2
3 May 20 Seattle L 80–81 Diana Taurasi (23) Penny Taylor (7) Diana Taurasi (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
13,048 		0–3
4 May 25 Minnesota L 78–85 Penny Taylor (25) Diana Taurasi (6) Diana Taurasi (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,368 		0–4
5 May 29 Washington W 93–77 Diana Taurasi (28) DeWanna Bonner (12) Penny Taylor (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,228 		1–4
6 May 31 Connecticut W 99–90 Brittney Griner (21) DeWanna Bonner (8) Diana Taurasi (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,412 		2–4
June : 5–5 (Home: 3–1; Road: 2–4)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
7 June 3 @ Seattle L 81–95 Penny Taylor (19) Brittney Griner (6) Penny Taylor (5) KeyArena
6,510 		2–5
8 June 7 @ Minnesota L 81–89 Bonner, Griner (14) Candice Dupree (8) Penny Taylor (10) Target Center
7,207 		2–6
9 June 9 San Antonio W 90–75 Diana Taurasi (31) Brittney Griner (8) DeWanna Bonner (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,048 		3–6
10 June 12 Chicago W 86–80 Diana Taurasi (31) Brittney Griner (10) Candice Dupree (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,055 		4–6
11 June 17 @ Los Angeles L 71–77 Candice Dupree (16) DeWanna Bonner (9) Dupree, Taylor (3) Staples Center
8,964 		4–7
12 June 18 Dallas L 111–117 (OT) DeWanna Bonner (38) Brittney Griner (9) Quinn, Taurasi (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
10,235 		4–8
13 June 21 @ Dallas L 90–100 DeWanna Bonner (26) Brittney Griner (8) Diana Taurasi (6) College Park Center
6,819 		4–9
14 June 24 @ Washington W 91–79 Diana Taurasi (27) Griner, Taurasi (5) Harding, Taurasi (5) Capital One Arena
5,136 		5–9
15 June 26 @ New York W 104–94 (OT) Candice Dupree (26) Candice Dupree (8) Penny Taylor (7) Madison Square Garden
9,591 		6–9
16 June 29 Connecticut W 86–75 Sonja Petrović (22) Brittney Griner (8) Diana Taurasi (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
10,551 		7–9
July : 3–5 (Home: 2–3; Road: 1–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
17 July 1 New York L 88–99 DeWanna Bonner (22) Candice Dupree (6) DeWanna Bonner (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
11,606 		7–10
18 July 3 @ Atlanta W 95–87 Brittney Griner (27) Brittney Griner (10) Diana Taurasi (8) Philips Arena
6,557 		8–10
19 July 5 @ Dallas L 74–77 Diana Taurasi (22) Candice Dupree (6) Brittney Griner (6) College Park Center
5,480 		8–11
20 July 8 Indiana L 60–78 Bone, Taurasi (13) Kelsey Bone (5) Lindsey Harding (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena
10,371 		8–12
21 July 10 @ Chicago L 95–100 Diana Taurasi (26) Candice Dupree (7) Marta Xargay (6) Allstate Arena
7,021 		8–13
22 July 13 Washington W 78–74 Brittney Griner (22) Brittney Griner (8) Diana Taurasi (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
10,628 		9–13
23 July 16 San Antonio W 83–64 DeWanna Bonner (33) DeWanna Bonner (8) Harden, Harding, Xargay (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena
11,539 		10–13
24 July 19 Chicago L 77–79 DeWanna Bonner (20) Bonner, Dupree (8) Taurasi, Xargay (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,318 		10–14
August : 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
25 August 26 Dallas W 98–72 Penny Taylor (22) DeWanna Bonner (10) Harding, Taylor, Xargay (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena
11,396 		11–14
26 August 28 Los Angeles W 70–66 Diana Taurasi (26) Bone, Dupree (7) Penny Taylor (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
11,905 		12–14
27 August 30 @ Indiana W 79–65 Brittney Griner (20) Brittney Griner (7) Dupree, Griner (3) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
7,250 		13–14
September : 3–4 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–4)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
28 September 2 @ Connecticut L 74–87 Brittney Griner (29) Candice Dupree (10) Harding, Taurasi, Taylor (3) Mohegan Sun Arena
6,709 		13–15
29 September 3 @ New York L 70–92 Marta Xargay (16) Candice Dupree (8) DeWanna Bonner (4) Madison Square Garden
10,026 		13–16
30 September 6 @ Atlanta L 87–91 Diana Taurasi (23) DeWanna Bonner (7) DeWanna Bonner (7) Philips Arena
3,625 		13–17
31 September 11 Atlanta W 86–75 Brittney Griner (21) Brittney Griner (9) Bonner, Xargay (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,877 		14–17
32 September 14 @ Los Angeles L 85–90 DeWanna Bonner (20) Brittney Griner (16) Marta Xargay (6) Staples Center
9,371 		14–18
33 September 15 Seattle W 86–62 Brittney Griner (21) DeWanna Bonner (9) Diana Taurasi (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
10,380 		15–18
34 September 18 San Antonio W 81–65 Diana Taurasi (18) Brittney Griner (7) Taurasi, Taylor (4) AT&T Center
6,397 		16–18
2016 season schedule

Playoffs

2016 playoff game log
First Round
vs. Indiana Fever
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 September 21 @ Indiana W 89–78 Diana Taurasi (20) Brittney Griner (9) Penny Taylor (4) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,282 		1–0
Second Round
vs. New York Liberty
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 September 24 @ New York W 101–94 Diana Taurasi (30) Brittney Griner (10) Brittney Griner (5) Madison Square Garden
10,227 		1–0
Semifinals vs. Minnesota Lynx
Lost Series 0–3
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 September 28 @ Minnesota L 95–113 Diana Taurasi (25) Penny Taylor (5) Dupree, Harding (5) Xcel Energy Center
9,013 		0–1
2 September 30 @ Minnesota L 86–96 Diana Taurasi (31) Isabelle Harrison (9) Penny Taylor (5) Xcel Energy Center
11,923 		0–2
3 October 2 Minnesota L 67–82 Bonner, Taurasi (12) Griner, Harrison (7) Marta Xargay (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,631 		0–3
2016 playoff schedule

Standings

Western Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
1 - Minnesota Lynx 28 6 .824 — 15–2 13–4 15–1
2 - Los Angeles Sparks 26 8 .765 2 14–3 12–5 11–5
7 - Seattle Storm 16 18 .471 12 10–7 6–11 7–9
8 - 16 18 .471 12 11–6 5–12 6–10
e - Dallas Wings 11 23 .324 17 6–11 5–12 8–8
e - San Antonio Stars 7 27 .206 21 4–13 3–14 1–15

Playoffs

First round
Single elimination
(Sept. 21)		Second round
Single elimination
(Sept. 24 and 25)		Semifinals
Best-of-5
(Sept. 28 – Oct. 6)		WNBA Finals
Best-of-5
(Oct. 9 – 20)
1Minnesota Lynx3
3New York Liberty9480
5Indiana Fever7881011Minnesota Lynx2
8892Los Angeles Sparks3
2Los Angeles Sparks3
4Chicago Sky1084Chicago Sky1
6Atlanta Dream946Atlanta Dream98
7Seattle Storm85

Note: Teams re-seeded after the second round and semifinals.

  • Bold – Game or series winner
  • Italic – Team with home-court advantage

Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular season

Source:[8]

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
DeWanna Bonner 34 24 31.3 42.4% 32.9% 79.8% 5.4 2.4 1.3 0.6 14.5
Diana Taurasi 33 33 29.8 39.6% 35.0% 90.9% 3.0 3.9 0.9 0.1 17.8
Brittney Griner 34 34 29.2 54.8% — 83.1% 6.5 1.0 0.4 3.1 14.5
Candice Dupree 32 32 29.1 54.1% 0.0% 79.2% 5.3 1.9 0.8 0.2 11.3
Penny Taylor 25 25 25.7 48.8% 39.6% 90.7% 3.8 3.6 1.5 0.4 12.5
Marta Xargay 15 6 19.7 40.0% 33.3% 70.6% 1.7 2.7 1.1 0.2 5.7
Lindsey Harding 21 0 15.7 37.0% 40.0% 87.0% 1.7 2.1 0.5 0.1 3.9
Sonja Petrović 31 13 14.8 42.1% 34.4% 95.7% 2.2 0.6 0.6 0.2 5.1
Mistie Bass 33 1 13.2 46.3% — 81.5% 1.9 0.8 0.5 0.3 2.9
Noelle Quinn 13 0 9.9 24.1% 10.0% 85.7% 0.9 1.4 0.4 0.2 1.6
Kelsey Bone 20 0 9.7 38.8% 0.0% 70.0% 2.5 0.6 0.2 0.1 3.0
Alex Harden 28 1 7.5 45.0% 25.0% 50.0% 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.1 1.4
Isabelle Harrison 26 1 7.5 52.5% — 68.0% 1.8 0.0 0.4 0.1 3.1
Nirra Fields 4 0 4.3 14.3% 0.0% 50.0% — — — — 0.8
Courtney Williams 6 0 4.2 11.1% 0.0% 50.0% 1.2 0.3 — — 0.5

Playoffs

Source:[8]

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Candice Dupree 5 5 31.4 48.8% — 100.0% 3.8 1.8 0.6 0.2 9.6
Brittney Griner 5 5 31.2 64.3% — 81.3% 6.0 1.6 0.6 2.2 13.4
Diana Taurasi 5 5 30.8 51.5% 43.2% 97.0% 2.6 2.8 0.2 0.6 23.6
Penny Taylor 5 5 26.0 36.8% 31.3% 95.8% 4.4 3.0 1.6 0.8 11.2
DeWanna Bonner 5 0 24.2 42.6% 0.0% 82.4% 4.2 1.6 1.0 0.0 10.8
Marta Xargay 5 5 24.2 44.4% 27.3% 80.0% 1.8 3.8 0.4 0.0 7.8
Isabelle Harrison 3 0 13.7 61.5% — 0.0% 6.0 — — — 5.3
Sonja Petrović 2 0 12.5 44.4% 75.0% 0.0% 1.0 2.5 0.5 — 5.5
Lindsey Harding 5 0 9.2 46.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.4 1.4 — 0.2 2.4
Mistie Bass 5 0 7.8 33.3% — 100.0% 1.4 0.8 0.2 — 1.6
Kelsey Bone 2 0 4.0 100.0% — — 0.5 — — — 2.0
Alex Harden 2 0 2.0 100.0% 100.0% — — — — — 2.5

Awards and honors

Recipient Award Date Awarded Ref.
Diana Taurasi All-WNBA Second Team October 14, 2016 [10]
Western Conference Player of the Week June 27, 2016 [11]
Brittney Griner WNBA All-Defensive Second Team September 30, 2016 [12]

References

  1. ^ "2016 Phoenix Mercury Schedule". WNBA. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
  2. ^ "Mercury Signs Forward Sonja Petrovic". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 29, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  3. ^ "Stars Acquire Monique Currie from Mercury for 2017 Second-Round Pick". WNBA. May 7, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  4. ^ "Mercury Sign Former No. 1 Overall Pick Lindsey Harding". Phoenix Mercury. WNBA. June 23, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  5. ^ "Sun Trade Bone To Phoenix For Williams, Alleyne And 2017 Draft Pick". Connecticut Sun. WNBA. June 25, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  6. ^ "Quinn returns to Storm, Mercury get Robinson in trade". si.com. Sports Illustrated. June 25, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  7. ^ "Mercury Re-Signs Olympian Marta Xargay". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. July 8, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c "2016 Phoenix Mercury Stats". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  9. ^ "Phoenix Mercury Basketball Roster 2016". basketball.usbasket.com. USBasket. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  10. ^ "2016 All-WNBA First and Second Teams Announced". wnba.com. WNBA. October 14, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  11. ^ "Déjà Vu: Charles Repeats as Player of the Week". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. June 27, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  12. ^ "Sylvia Fowles, Nneka Ogwumike Headline 2016 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 30, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
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