Have yourself a night, Sami Whitcomb, even if it came at the expense of the Dallas Wings (6-14).
The undrafted journeywoman Phoenix Mercury guard could not be contained Monday night at PHX Arena.
The Wings had no answer for Whitcomb’s quick-draw sharpshooting in a disappointing 102-72 loss to the Mercury (13-6). She hit a pull-up 3-pointer near the top of the key on the Mercury’s first offensive possession and outscored the entire Wings team 22-21 through the game’s first 11 minutes.
Dallas turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter and six more in the second, feeding Whitcomb and the Mercury opportunities to get out and run early on. Dallas came into the game averaging just over 13 turnovers per game.
The Mercury’s off-ball screen game freed Whitcomb up time and time again, and all she needed was a sliver of space to get her shot off. She made six of her seven 3-point attempts in the first half. She poured in 19 points in the first quarter and scored 10 more in the second. Her sixth make from long range came from that same spot near the top of the key and put the Mercury up 46-33 with 2:30 left before halftime.
Whitcomb’s 29 points marked the highest-scoring half in any [WNBA](https://www.swishappeal.com) game this season. She finished with 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting (7-of-11 from 3-point range) and six rebounds to lead the Mercury to a bounce-back win after the team dropped their last two.
And she did it all while chasing Paige Bueckers around as the primary defender on the Wings’ budding superstar. Bueckers made just 3-of-9 from the floor in the first half, but still led Dallas with 11 points at the break. She missed her only two shot attempts of the second half.
Whitcomb surpassed her previous career-high scoring mark by making 2-of-3 at the line after rookie guard JJ Quinerly picked up her fourth foul on Whitcomb’s 3-point attempt with 8:27 left in the third quarter. After missing the third of her three free throws, Whitcomb retreated to the 3-point line along the left wing, and she canned another to give her 34 points early in the third and put the Mercury up 59-42 with nearly two quarters still to play. That 3-pointer came as part of a 16-0 run that sealed the Wings’ fate.
Her seven 3-pointers tied a career-high mark as well. Alyssa Thomas added 15 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds for the Mercury. Quinerly led the Wings with 18 points on four made 3-pointers and five assists in the loss.
Dallas shot just 27-of-75 (36%) from the field and just 8-of-24 (33.3%) from deep in the loss. The Mercury defense was a completely different animal at the point of attack on Monday than in the Wings’ [98-89 win on Thursday over Phoenix at College Park Center](https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/7/3/24461402/dallas-wings-win-recap-98-89-phoenix-mercury).
Whitcomb went undrafted out of Washington in 2010 and was waived by the Chicago Sky during training camp leading up to the 2010 season. The 36-year-old played for seven seasons in Australia before winning two WNBA Championships with the Seattle Storm. Her previous high-scoring mark was 30 points, which she accomplished twice in 2021 while playing for the Storm.
An equal and opposite reaction to Thursday’s win was somewhat to be expected, but Monday’s loss can’t be seen as anything other than a step back for the Wings, considering that Phoenix’s blowout win came without Satou Sabally (ankle) and Kahleah Copper (hamstring). Copper scored a game-high 33 points in the Wings’ win over the Mercury on Thursday.