Arizona Digest: Phoenix Mercury lose season series vs Atlanta Dream

Summer is here in Arizona, and there’s plenty of activity. The Phoenix Mercury are having a good season, while Phoenix Rising FC's USL Championship soccer season is in full swing. The Arizona Rattlers are headed to the playoffs, and boxers and MMA fighters with Arizona ties have had busy summers.

Kahleah Copper #2 of the Phoenix Mercury drives between Maya Caldwell #33 and Brionna Jones #24 of the Atlanta Dream during the second quarter at Gateway Center Arena on Aug. 1, 2025, in College Park, Georgia.

Here are the news and events happening around Arizona sports.

Phoenix Mercury unable to stop Atlanta Dream’s hot shooting in loss 

The Phoenix Mercury (16-11) dropped the season series to the Atlanta Dream (17-11) in a 96-72 loss in Atlanta on Friday, August 1. The Dream now hold a tiebreaker against the Mercury for the playoffs. 

Kahleah Copper led the Mercury with 19 points, followed by Alyssa Thomas’ double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. 

Allisha Gray was a thorn for the Mercury along the perimeter, hitting a career-high of seven 3s on nine attempts and finishing with 26 points. The Mercury couldn’t find a solution for their 3-point defense and gave up 13 3-pointers on 31 looks. The Mercury shot four 3-pointers on 16 attempts. 

The Mercury struggled to match up against Brionna Jones and Naz Hillmon, who both crashed the glass and helped the Dream outrebound the Mercury, 37-27. Hillmon had nine rebounds, while Jones grabbed eight. 

Forward Satou Sabally exited the game with 2:44 left in the second and did not return.  

Kalani Brown started in Sabally's place in the third quarter, making her first appearance in three games. Brown recorded six points and four rebounds in nine minutes. 

The Mercury led by as many as nine points with 7:04 left in the first quarter, but the Dream's 13-0 run stifled their momentum for the rest of the game.

Dream center Brittney Griner (neck) did not play against the Mercury.

The 24-point loss was the worst of the season. The Mercury have lost five of their last six games. The five-game road trip ends on Sunday, August 3 against the Chicago Sky. 

--Jenna Ortiz

Phoenix Rising FC fall at Orange County

Phoenix Rising FC began its two-match week with a 4-1 loss at Orange County SC in Irvine, California, on Wednesday night, July 30.

In a match broadcast on ESPN2, Rising trailed 2-0 in the second half before Ihsan Sacko put in a header off a pass from Darius Johnson in the 68th minute. But the momentum was lost when substitute Pape Mar Boye, who'd come in just five minutes earlier, was issued a red card in the 82nd minute.

"We let ourselves down," Rising FC head coach Pa-Modou Kah said following the match. "We did well to come back down 2-1, but then we made a mistake not tracking players back, (OC) scores from there and then it's an uphill battle."

Rising FC sits in sixth place in the USL Western Conference at 23 points, but it is winless in four of its last five league games. Still, the team is only two points out of third place.

Rising FC (6-6-5) plays eight of its final 13 league games of the season at home, a stretch that starts at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, August 2, against Birmingham Legion FC at Phoenix Rising Stadium.

-Jose M. Romero

Phoenix Mercury losing streak vs. Indiana Fever reaches 6 games 

The Phoenix Mercury (16-10) couldn’t solve the Indiana Fever, turning the ball over 19 times in the 107-101 loss in Indianapolis on Wednesday, July 30. 

Alyssa Thomas shouldered a heavy load for the glass game, grabbing 15 of the Mercury’s 31 rebounds. Thomas also posted a career-high 32 points. Kahleah Copper followed with 22 points. 

The Mercury put together a strong first quarter, but struggled handling the ball in the ensuing quarters. Along with posting eight turnovers in the second quarter, the Mercury surrendered a 12-0 scoring run from the Fever that changed the game’s momentum. 

The mistakes were costly as the Fever went on to score 25 points off turnovers. 

Fever guard and Arizona product Aari McDonald became a huge problem for the Mercury’s defense and saw three of her four 3-point attempts fall down. McDonald logged a career-high 27 points, including 17 in the first half, and was 10 of 10 at the free throw line. 

Defending against the 3 became difficult for the Mercury, even with Caitlin Clark out for the Fever. The Fever went 11 of 24 from the 3, including five in the second quarter.  

Starting guard Monique Akoa Makani left abruptly in the third quarter after experiencing discomfort. Akoa Makani returned later in the fourth, but in her absence, Sami Whitcomb stepped in and posted nine points off the bench. 

The Mercury have lost the last six meetings against the Fever, but will regroup on Friday, Aug. 1, at the Atlanta Dream at 4:30 p.m. 

--Jenna Ortiz