Sky cruise past Mercury, take No. 2 seed in playoffs
PHOENIX - Azura Stevens scored 17 points and the Chicago Sky wrapped up the regular season with an 82-67 victory over Phoenix on Sunday.
The Sky (26-10), the defending WNBA champions, had an opportunity to take the No. 1 playoff seed had Las Vegas (also 26-10) lost its regular-season finale earlier on Sunday. However, the Aces defeated Seattle 109-100 to clinch the top seed.
Allie Quigley added 14 points, Emma Meesseman 11 and Kahleah Copper 11 for the Sky, which will open defense of their league title as the No. 2 seed against the seventh-seeded New York Liberty. The opener of the three-game series will be Wednesday at Wintrust Arena.
No Sky starter played more than 20 minutes and all five reserves who played recorded at least 20 minutes on the court.
The Sky dominated the Mercury from the start, leading 15-8 after one quarter and 39-25 at halftime.
Megan Gustafson had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix. Jennie Simms added 12 points, Kaela Davis 11, and Diamond DeShields 10.
Phoenix (15-21) played without Diana Taurasi, who missed the game with a quadriceps injury. The Mercury were also without Skylar Diggins-Smith, whose contract has been suspended by the team. Still, the Mercury qualified for the playoffs when Minnesota lost to Connecticut earlier Sunday. The Mercury will be the eighth seed and face top-seeded Las Vegas on Wednesday.