Mercury is the hottest planet in our solar system and the Phoenix Mercury had the hottest single quarter in WNBA history on Thursday night against the Sun.
Phoenix scored a WNBA-record 45 points in the first quarter against Connecticut, breaking the previous record of 44 points set by the Liberty on July 23 of this year.
The record breaking basket was a 37-foot heave by Moriah Jefferson at the buzzer.
The Mercury spread the wealth during the record-setting quarter, with nine players scoring at least one basket. Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi led the way with nine points each. As a team, Phoenix hit 16-of-17 field goal attempts, including 6-of-7 from three, and went 7-for-8 from the line. The team moved the ball exceptionally well, with 12 of the 16 baskets coming off of assists.
The Mercury's 45 PTS is the most in a single quarter in WNBA history 😱
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 11, 2023
(via @WNBA)pic.twitter.com/byXGbmP2i8
The Mercury’s offensive outburst comes as a surprise, considering they’re last in the league 78.0 points scored per game.
The offense came back down to earth after the first quarter, though. In the second, Phoenix only scored seven points on 1-of-9 shooting, thanks in large part to a whopping 11 turnovers. (The Mercury lead the league with 15.7 turnovers per game.) Though the drought allowed the Sun to cut the deficit to 52–48 at halftime, Phoenix hung on to win, 90–84.
