Seattle-The Phoenix Mercury needed the whole fifth triple-double of Alyssa Thomas Sunday of the season to defeat the storm of Seattle 85-82, slamming a sequence of two defeats and spoiled “Forever Sue” Day after the storm revealed a statue of the former legendary star Sue Bird.
Thomas collected the last of his 19 points and his 11 assists in the middle of a 6-0 Phoenix race after Seattle took his only lead in the 78-77 match, and his 10th rebound to finish the triple-double also came during this period. A pair of reversals from Mercury Tardifs gave the storm a chance to bond in the last seconds, but Phoenix has maintained the victory to stay equally in the fourth row of the WNBA ranking with the Las Vegas Aces.
“She is physical, she is intelligent and she is doing games in a timely,” said Seattle Noelle Quinn coach. “When you have an athlete like this one who plays hard with each possession, she will continue to have an impact on the game as she does. She did the three things at a high level. I thought that for the most part, we were engaged with the covers there, she simply hit her shots today.”
Thomas’ fifth triple -double -double – and fourth in seven August games – equaled the total of all the other WNBA players this season. No other player has recorded several triple doubles in 2025. In addition, Thomas is a shy of his own season for a season for the triple-doubles, established in 2023 while playing for the Connecticut Sun.
“This is certainly not something I think,” said Thomas. “For me, I just want to win. We are standing in the second half, so for me, it’s just giving the tone and going out and trying to win the basketball match.”
Sitting next to Thomas at the post -match press conference, his teammate Sami Whitcomb – who had 15 points in place of Monique Akoa Makani, who missed the match due to a left knee injury – could only shake the head about Thomas’ last triple -doulou.
“No, you don’t get used to it,” said Whitcomb. “This is one of these things like when you see the attention she receives in every match and the different things that people throw us and she.
Two of the three 3 points of Whitcomb were assisted by Thomas, who left equality with Skylar Diggins (who finished with two assists) and before Becky Hammon for seventh place in the ranking of all WNBAs with 1,717 according to ESPN Research.
“She always finds us, she always brings us these wide looks,” said Whitcomb. “It’s really fun to play with it and it’s always very impressive.”
Thomas herself remains roughly the only person not impressed by his room.
“I’m just me,” she said. “All my whole career, I just tried to do a little of everything, whether it is the offensive, the defense. I just let the game come to me. Each game is different.”
