2013 Phoenix Mercury season

The 2013 WNBA season is the 17th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association.

2013 Phoenix Mercury season
Coach	Corey Gaines (10-11) Russ Pennell (9-4)
Arena	US Airways Center
Attendance	8,557 per game
Results
Record	19–15 (.559)
Place	3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost Conference Finals (2-0 to Minnesota Lynx)
Team Leaders
Points	Taurasi 25.0
Rebounds	Bonner and Griner 6.0
Assists	Taurasi 6.0
Media
Television	FS-A ESPN2, NBATV
← 2012 season 2014 season →

There were high hopes for the Mercury after they drafted Brittney Griner first overall in the 2013 WNBA draft. However, the Mercury got off to a slow start, and ultimately fired coach Corey Gaines on August 8, 2013, replacing him with Russ Pennell. Amber Cox, the Mercury President and CEO, took over Gaines' GM duties.^[1] Pennell helped turn things around, securing the third seed in the 2013 WNBA Playoffs. The Mercury earned a spot in the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Lynx.

Transactions

WNBA draft

The following are the Mercury's selections in the 2013 WNBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/team/country
1	1	Brittney Griner	United States	Baylor
3	26	Nikki Greene	United States	Penn State

Transaction log

• February 8: re-signed Krystal Thomas and Lynetta Kizer.
• March 7: signed Ify Ibekwe and Jalana Childs.
• April 11: re-signed DeWanna Bonner.

Trades

Date	Trade
TBD	To Phoenix Mercury	To TBD
	TBD	TBD

Personnel changes

Additions Player Signed Former team Brittney Griner April 15, 2013 draft pick Jasmine James July 21, 2013 free agent

Subtractions Player Left New team Eddie Garner Preseason released Samantha Prahalis July 18, 2013^[2] released

Roster

2013 Phoenix Mercury roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 24   Bonner, DeWanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 137 lb (62kg) 08-21-1987 Auburn 4 F 4   Dupree, Candice 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 08-16-1984 Temple 7 G 15   Gilbreath, Briana 6' 0" (1.83m) 150 lb (68kg) 08-16-1990 USC 1 C 42   Griner, Brittney 6' 8" (2.03m) 208 lb (94kg) 10-18-1990 Baylor R G 14   Hornbuckle, Alexis 5' 10" (1.78m) 155 lb (70kg) 10-16-1985 Tennessee 5 F 22   Houston, Charde 6' 0" (1.83m) 189 lb (86kg) 04-10-1986 Connecticut 5 C 12   Kizer, Lynetta 6' 4" (1.93m) 230 lb (104kg) 04-04-1990 Maryland 1 G 10   James, Jasmine 5' 9" (1.75m) – 05-29-1991 Georgia R G 3   Taurasi, Diana 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 06-11-1982 Connecticut 9 F 13   Taylor, Penny 6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) 05-24-1981 Australia 11 F/C 34   Thomas, Krystal 6' 5" (1.96m) 195 lb (88kg) 06-10-1989 Duke 2	Head coach   Russ Pennell (Pittsburg State) Assistant coaches   Julie Hairgrove (Arizona)   Anthony Boone (Mississippi) Athletic trainer   Tamara Poole (Cal State-DH) Strength and conditioning coach Pro Advantage Training Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended   Injured

Depth

Pos.	Starter	Bench
C	Brittney Griner	Lynetta Kizer Krystal Thomas
PF	Candice Dupree	Charde Houston
SF	Penny Taylor	Jasmine James
SG	DeWanna Bonner	Briana Gilbreath
PG	Diana Taurasi	Alexis Hornbuckle

Season standings

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	GP
1	z-Minnesota Lynx	26	8	.765	-	34
2	x-Los Angeles Sparks	24	10	.706	2	34
3	x-Phoenix Mercury	19	15	.559	7	34
4	x-Seattle Storm	17	17	.500	9	34
5	e-San Antonio Silver Stars	12	22	.353	14	34
6	e-Tulsa Shock	11	23	.324	15	34

Schedule

Preseason

2013 pre-season game log Total: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
Pre-season: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 19 Japan W 87–64 Brittney Griner (18) Dupree & Kizer (9) Samantha Prahalis (8) US Airways Center 4021 1–0
2013 season schedule

Regular season

2013 game log Total: 19–15 (Home: 10–7; Road: 9–8)
May: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 27 Chicago L 80–102 Diana Taurasi (18) Brittney Griner (8) Samantha Prahalis (5) US Airways Center 10200 0–1
June : 7–3 (Home: 2–1; Road: 5–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 2 June 2 @ Seattle L 72–75 Candice Dupree (18) Brittney Griner (7) Charde Houston (6) Key Arena 9686 0–2 3 June 6 @ Minnesota L 79–99 Diana Taurasi (21) DeWanna Bonner (7) Samantha Prahalis (5) Target Center 8511 0–3 4 June 8 @ Indiana W 82–67 Diana Taurasi (26) DeWanna Bonner (11) Bonner, Dupree, & Taurasi (5) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 8672 1–3 5 June 14 Los Angeles W 97–81 Diana Taurasi (34) DeWanna Bonner (12) Diana Taurasi (7) US Airways Center 13065 2–3 6 June 16 @ Tulsa W 108–103 (OT) Diana Taurasi (29) Candice Dupree (10) Diana Taurasi (9) BOK Center 4206 3–3 7 June 19 Minnesota L 69–80 Diana Taurasi (28) Brittney Griner (7) DeWanna Bonner (5) US Airways Center 8464 3–4 8 June 21 Washington W 90–82 Diana Taurasi (31) DeWanna Bonner (9) Diana Taurasi (5) US Airways Center 9636 4–4 9 June 25 @ San Antonio W 83–77 Brittney Griner (26) Candice Dupree (12) Diana Taurasi (8) AT&T Center 9007 5–4 10 June 27 @ Washington W 101–97 Diana Taurasi (26) Candice Dupree (11) Diana Taurasi (8) Verizon Center 7950 6–4 11 June 29 @ Connecticut W 89–70 Bonner & Taurasi (19) DeWanna Bonner (8) Diana Taurasi (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 9110 7–4
July : 2–5 (Home: 1–3; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 12 July 2 NY Liberty W 94–87 Bonner & Dupree (20) Bonner & Dupree (7) Diana Taurasi (10) US Airways Center 7636 8–4 13 July 7 @ Minnesota L 59–91 Candice Dupree (12) Brittney Griner (11) Diana Taurasi (7) Target Center 9104 8–5 14 July 10 San Antonio L 80–88 Candice Dupree (22) Krystal Thomas (6) Diana Taurasi (5) US Airways Center 8707 8–6 15 July 14 Los Angeles L 76–88 Diana Taurasi (23) Candice Dupree (8) Diana Taurasi (5) US Airways Center 8233 8–7 16 July 18 @ Los Angeles W 90–84 Diana Taurasi (32) DeWanna Bonner (11) Diana Taurasi (6) Staples Center 11105 9–7 17 July 21 Minnesota L 77–82 Diana Taurasi (26) DeWanna Bonner (10) Diana Taurasi (6) US Airways Center 9806 9–8 18 July 24 @ Minnesota L 69–81 Candice Dupree (17) Krystal Thomas (10) Alexis Hornbuckle (4) Target Center 16404 9–9
August : 6–4 (Home: 5–2; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record All-Star Break 19 August 1 @ Seattle L 79–88 DeWanna Bonner (19) Candice Dupree (10) DeWanna Bonner (7) Key Arena 6457 9–10 20 August 3 Atlanta W 82–76 Diana Taurasi (28) DeWanna Bonner (6) Bonner, Dupree, & Taurasi (4) US Airways Center 8138 10–10 21 August 6 Seattle L 65–80 Candice Dupree (18) Candice Dupree (8) Diana Taurasi (5) US Airways Center 6877 10–11 22 August 9 Tulsa W 70–67 Diana Taurasi (23) Candice Dupree (9) Taurasi & Hornbuckle (4) US Airways Center 8547 11–11 23 August 11 Tulsa W 77–56 DeWanna Bonner (21) Candice Dupree (7) Diana Taurasi (7) US Airways Center 5972 12–11 24 August 14 Indiana W 75–58 Candice Dupree (16) Brittney Griner (8) Diana Taurasi (11) US Airways Center 6135 13–11 25 August 17 @ San Antonio L 82–88 Diana Taurasi (23) Briana Gilbreath (6) Diana Taurasi (7) AT&T Center 10906 13–12 26 August 20 @ Tulsa W 89–86 Diana Taurasi (28) Dupree & Griner (10) Diana Taurasi (10) BOK Center 4261 14–12 27 August 23 Seattle L 73–81 DeWanna Bonner (20) Bonner & Griner (5) Diana Taurasi (7) US Airways Center 8026 14–13 28 August 31 Connecticut W 76–68 Bonner & Dupree (22) Candice Dupree (9) Diana Taurasi (8) US Airways Center 8119 15–13
September : 4–2 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 29 September 6 San Antonio W 83–80 Diana Taurasi (21) Brittney Griner (14) Diana Taurasi (7) US Airways Center 9006 16–13 30 September 8 @ Atlanta W 79–71 Diana Taurasi (25) Brittney Griner (11) Diana Taurasi (6) Philips Arena 9740 17–13 31 September 10 @ NY Liberty W 80–76 Bonner & Dupree (18) Dupree & Taurasi (6) Diana Taurasi (9) Prudential Center 8127 18–13 32 September 11 @ Chicago L 68–70 Candice Dupree (15) Dupree & Gilbreath (6) Jasmine James (5) Allstate Arena 6409 18–14 33 September 13 San Antonio W 82–61 Diana Taurasi (20) Krystal Thomas (8) Diana Taurasi (10) US Airways Center 8899 19–14 34 September 15 @ Los Angeles L 55–89 Griner & James (9) Krystal Thomas (8) Jasmine James (4) Staples Center 12311 19–15
2013 season schedule

Playoffs

2013 playoff game log Total: 2–3 (Home: 0–2; Road: 2–1)
Conference Semifinals: 2–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 19 @ Los Angeles W 86–75 Diana Taurasi (30) Candice Dupree (7) Diana Taurasi (7) Staples Center 8500 1–0 2 September 21 Los Angeles L 73–82 Diana Taurasi (20) Candice Dupree (9) Diana Taurasi (5) US Airways Center 11110 1–1 3 September 23 @ Los Angeles W 78–77 Candice Dupree (22) Bonner & Gilbreath (6) Diana Taurasi (10) Staples Center 9321 2–1
Conference Finals: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 26 @ Minnesota L 62–85 Diana Taurasi (15) Brittney Griner (6) Bonner & Dupree (3) Target Center 9013 0–1 2 September 29 Minnesota L 65–72 Diana Taurasi (21) Brittney Griner (10) Diana Taurasi (6) US Airways Center 8020 0–2
2013 season schedule

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and honors

References

1. "Mercury fire Corey Gaines". espn.go.com/. Associated Press. August 9, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
2. "Mercury Waive Samantha Prahalis". wnba.com. WNBA. July 18, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2015.

External links