In an 86-81 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday, the Phoenix Mercury punched their ticket to the WNBA Finals. They won a chippy semifinal series, 3-1. They dropped the first matchup in the series with Minnesota winning 82-69. It was looking like an uphill battle for this Merc squad.
All season long, the Minnesota Lynx looked like an absolute championship-winning team — I thought we would without a doubt be seeing them in the Finals. They had one of the most dynamic rosters in the league, made up of MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride, and Courtney Williams. They swept the Valkyries in the first round, but it all seemed to fall apart in Game 3 of the Phoenix semi-finals series.
It was a close game with under a minute left when Mercury star Alyssa Thomas stole the ball from Collier, leading to her being tripped up and injuring her ankle. Tensions only got hotter as Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve started yelling at a ref, ultimately getting ejected from the game. That, along with comments made in the post-game press conference, resulted in Reeve being suspended for Game 4 of the series.
Minnesota looked good in Game 4 without Phee, who was out due to that injury, and their suspended head coach, but they just could not pull it off to push a Game 5 - resulting in a heartbreaking end to their great season and Phoenix clinching their spot in the Finals.
Raise a glass if you’re going to the finals 🥂 pic.twitter.com/zK8o51nDuD
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) September 29, 2025
The Mercury had four players with 10+ points in Game 4. One of them being Satou Sabally. She recorded 21 points and 6 rebounds. If this postseason has proven anything, it's that when Sabally succeeds, the Mercury does as well. They are 5-0 in the playoffs when Sabally scores more than 10 points. Phoenix has had only two losses total across both series; she scored 9 points in the first and 10 in the second.
That statistic alone makes me believe that if the Phoenix Mercury end up winning this year's WNBA Championship, it will be because of Satou Sabally's efforts on the court. It makes you think that both the Mercury's decision to pursue her in the offseason and her landing with this team are paying off tremendously. But the rest of their offseason additions deserve credit, as well.
The Mercury's offseason moves are paying off
Alyssa Thomas and Sami Whitcomb also joined this team after spending the majority of their careers elsewhere. Thomas was in Connecticut for 11 years before coming to Phoenix, while Whitcomb spent six of her eight years in the league with Seattle.
Along with Sabally, both AT and Whitcomb have shown up in big ways this postseason. Thomas is averaging 18.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game in the playoffs. Whitcomb hit a big 3-pointer late in the game on Sunday to cut the Lynx's lead to one point.
SAMI. CLUTCH. WHITCOMB 😲
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 29, 2025
She knocks down the corner triple to cap a 14-2 run for the Mercury!
MIN-PHX | ESPN | WNBA Playoffs | @google pic.twitter.com/IJ5vffaccm
Now all three of these Mercury newcomers, AT, Sabally, and Whitcomb, find themselves in a WNBA Finals — a place Sabally has never been — with a real chance at a ring. If whoever is playing across from this Mercury squad - either the Las Vegas Aces or Indiana Fever — is unable to contain Satou Sabally, it will be a tough series for them.