Mercury’s Diana Taurasi drains game-winning 3 to open her 17th WNBA season
Diana Taurasi moved into the top 10 all time in WNBA games played in the Mercury’s 2021 season opener Friday night.
And once again, the 17-year veteran played hero for her longtime team.
With time winding down in the fourth quarter and Taurasi’s Mercury trailing by one against the Lynx, Phoenix came up with a critical steal. Taurasi caught a pass in the frontcourt and drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with time frozen on the clock.
Ultimately, the officials determined that 1.1 seconds remained after Taurasi’s shot fell. The Mercury held on as that last second bled off the clock to earn a 77-75 victory.
Taurasi finished the game with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Her game-winning 3 wasn’t the only one to fall on the first night of the season. Fellow past No. 1 pick Sabrina Ionescu hit with 0.4 seconds left to give the Liberty a win over the Fever in the league’s season opener.