Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally left early in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals after hitting her head midway through the fourth quarter. There are no official details on her injury yet, but she needed help getting to the locker room and the broadcast said she was being evaluated for a concussion.
The Mercury fought hard after his injury, but ultimately fell 90-88 and are now 0-3 in the best-of-seven series.
The incident occurred when Sabally attempted a layup with 4:26 left and tangled with Jackie Young. As she fell to the ground, she buried her head into the legs of Aces’ Kierstan Bell and stayed on the ground for a while. Her teammates surrounded her as she was treated by medical staff. Sabally tried to get up several times before leaving the field with help.
At the time of his release, Sabally had 24 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Due to concussion protocol rules, Sabally was not required to shoot the free throws and another Mercury player was allowed to take her place. Coach Nate Tibbetts chose Kahleah Copper, who made both attempts.
Copper only scored six points in the third quarter, but she took over in the fourth with 11 points in those 10 minutes. The Mercury trailed by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, but Copper was the spark that helped his team trail to just one point with two minutes remaining.
The Aces tried to pull away again, but a 3-point basket by DeWanna Bonner tied the game at 86-86 with 1:41 left. The teams went back and forth, but a last-second shot from four-time MVP A’ja Wilson gave the Aces the lead. Bonner took one last look at the end of the game, but his jumper didn’t go in and Las Vegas came away with the victory.
Bonner finished the night with 25 points coming off the bench, while Alyssa Thomas gave Phoenix 14 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Wilson and Young led the way for Las Vegas with a combined 55 points.
Phoenix is now on the verge of being swept away. Sabally has been the team’s top scorer and not having her for Game 4 would make things more difficult for the Mercury.
Game 4 takes place in Phoenix on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
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