Phoenix Mercury woefully short of 'our standard' as 2026 season ends
· Yahoo Sports
One season removed from a trip to the WNBA Finals, the Phoenix Mercury didn’t meet their lofty expectations and instead ended their 2026 campaign quietly at Mortgage Matchup Center, falling to the Las Vegas Aces, 100-82, on Thursday night, Sept. 24.
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The Mercury have missed the playoffs only twice in the past 14 seasons.
The reigning champion Aces clinched the No. 3 seed with the win.
“We were competitive at times during the season, we just battled adversity like other teams do. We didn’t always handle it the best,” coach Nate Tibbetts said.
“This year hasn’t been up to our standard and we want to be in the playoffs, that’s what this organization is about. We want to be playing for championships, so our job now is to get better.”
The Mercury looked clunky at the start and didn’t possess the same tenacity as on Sept. 21, when Kahleah Copper drained the game-winner against the Dallas Wings with 2.4 seconds left.
Phoenix committed 10 turnovers in the first quarter. The Mercury had just five in the entire game against Dallas.
Las Vegas took advantage of the Mercury’s mistakes, turning seven turnovers into a 14-0 start. It took five minutes before the Mercury could score, and Las Vegas never let up.
A’ja Wilson scored 17 of her 34 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the first quarter.
Copper led the Mercury with 18 points, capping her year with a career-high average of 21.5 points per game.
While most of the group returned from the Finals run, the Mercury didn’t retain star forward Satou Sabally in free agency. Role players Sami Whitcomb and Kathryn Westbeld suffered injuries, including a season-ending ACL injury for Westbeld before training camp began.
Injuries and inconsistent play caused a 2-8 start that plagued the Mercury. As the season went on, Phoenix couldn’t sustain a winning stretch long enough for playoff contention.
“We had a lot of change after training camp,” Tibbetts said. “In the first two years, we did a really good job of setting the standard of who we were going to be and how we wanted to play. We got off to a tough start and were 2-8. That’s tough to recover from.
"You swing that a couple games and there’s a little bit more belief and buy-in and things like that.”
Unlike other eliminated teams, the Mercury won’t be looking at the draft lottery for their future. Phoenix traded its first-round pick to Los Angeles for guard Kelsey Plum at the deadline.
Since the Mercury were eliminated from postseason contention on Aug. 22, the season shifted to evaluating the team’s younger pool of talent. Shay Ciezki, Kara Dunn, Marta Suarez and Maddy Westbeld earned meaningful opportunities to earn a spot for next season.
Ciezki played 19 minutes in her final game, scoring 13 points off the bench on 4-of-9 shooting. Ciezki shot an efficient 47.7% from the field with 8.5 points per game in eight appearances this season.
“I let adversity hit this year, the rookie season is not supposed to be easy by any means,” Ciezki said. “But to know that, I’m here for a reason and I can play in this league and just to carry that over in the next year.”
The Mercury will hold their exit day on Friday, Sept. 25, with general manager Nick U’Ren, Copper, Alyssa Thomas and Tibbetts all expected to speak.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Mercury woefully short of 'our standard' as 2026 season ends