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Mercury, Dream earn wins in WNBA play

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Sami Whitcomb amassed a career-high 36 points and Alyssa Thomas notched a triple-double as the Phoenix Mercury rolled to a 102-72 rout of the Dallas Wings on Monday. 

Whitcomb went 7 of 11 from 3-point range and 12 of 19 overall from the field to lead the way as Phoenix (13-6) avenged Thursday's 98-89 loss to the Wings in Dallas. Thomas did her part as well by racking up 15 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists for her 16th career triple-double.

The Mercury also received 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting off the bench from Kiana Williams while keeping Wings young star Paige Bueckers in check. The 2025 No. 1 overall pick was held to 11 points while missing eight of her 11 shot attempts.

JJ Quinerly paced Dallas (6-14), which had won two in a row coming in, with 18 points. Aziaha James added 15 points in the loss.

Whitcomb was on fire right from the start, as she put up 19 first-quarter points on 7-of-9 shooting to help stake the Mercury to a 28-19 lead after one period. She tacked on 10 more points in the second quarter as Phoenix expanded its advantage to 52-39 at half-time.

The Mercury then put the contest out of reach with a 19-0 run in the third quarter that stretched their lead to 71-42 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the period. Whitcomb tallied seven points during the flurry to surpass her previous single-game best of 30 points. 

Dream rally in fourth quarter to get past Valkyries

Allisha Gray scored 24 points and helped spark a big fourth-quarter run that propelled the Atlanta Dream to a 90-81 victory over the Golden State Valkyries.

The Dream trailed by 12 points in the first quarter and were down by six early in the fourth before embarking on a 20-4 spurt that decided the contest. Naz Hillmon recorded eight of her 16 points during the pivotal sequence, while Rhyne Howard had 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter to help get Atlanta back on track.

Atlanta (12-7) moved within a half-game of the New York Liberty for first place in the Eastern Conference but entered the game having lost three of four.

Golden State (9-9) was dealt a second straight loss despite 19 points from Monique Billings and 15 from Kayla Thornton.

The Dream trailed 73-67 with eight minutes left before Howard drained a 3-pointer and Hillmon followed with a layup to begin the comeback. Another Howard triple tied the game at 75-75 with 5:46 remaining before Gray snapped the deadlock by converting a conventional three-point play just over a minute later.

Hillman later sealed the outcome with a pair of late 3-pointers, the last staking Atlanta to an 87-77 advantage with 1:42 left.

The Valkyries jumped out to a 26-16 lead after one quarter on the strength of three Veronica Burton 3-pointers, but a 20-5 Atlanta run in the second put the Dream up 38-35 with under four minutes left before half-time. Golden State scored the final eight points of the second quarter, however, to take a 45-43 edge into the break.