The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season began on May 14, on the road against the Minnesota Lynx. The Mercury began the season with four straight losses. They lost their opening night game 95–76 and followed that with a four-point loss to Indiana and a one-point loss at home against Seattle. They broke the streak with a 93–77 win against Washington. They finished the month with another win to end with a 2–4 record. They began June with two road losses, which they followed with home wins against San Antonio and Chicago. They could not build momentum off those wins as they lost their next game on the road 77–71 against Los Angeles. They then lost two straight, one at home and one away, against Dallas, including a 117–111 overtime home loss. They followed that with two road wins, including an overtime victory over New York, and finished the month with a home win over Connecticut. The team finished 5–5 in June. The Mercury lost four of their first five games of July, with their only win coming on the road against Atlanta. They finished the month 2–1 with defeats of Washington and San Antonio. They went into the Olympic break with a 79–77 loss against Chicago. They went 3–5 in July and had a 10–14 record going into the Olympic break. The team came back from the break and went 3–0 in August, defeating Dallas, Los Angeles, and Indiana, with only the Los Angeles victory coming by less than double digits. They followed those three wins with three losses to start September. They turned their fortunes around to finish the month, going 3–1, with defeats of Atlanta, Seattle, and San Antonio. They finished September with a 3–4 record and a 16–18 overall record.
The Mercury finished tied for third in the Western Conference. They lost the tiebreaker against Seattle, as the season series finished 2–1 in the Storm's favor. This resulted in the Mercury being the eighth, and final seed, in the 2016 WNBA playoffs. As the eighth seed, their First Round match was on the road against the fifth seed, Indiana. The Mercury prevailed 89–78 behind a twenty-point performance from Diana Taurasi. Taurasi turned in a thirty-point performance in the Second Round against the New York Liberty. The game was within two points in the fourth quarter, but a late surge saw the Mercury pull away and win 101–94. The Mercury advanced to the semifinals to face the top seed Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx would go on to sweep the Mercury three games to zero. Game two was the closest of the three games, with the Mercury losing 96–86. Brittney Griner lead the league in blocks, and she was selected to the all-defensive second team. Taurasi was selected to the All-WNBA Second Team.
Transactions
WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country 1 8 Courtney Williams South Florida 2 20 Jillian Alleyne Oregon 3 32 Nirra Fields UCLA
Trades/Roster Changes Date Details February 29, 2016 Signed F Sonja Petrović May 6, 2016 The Mercury traded Monique Currie to the San Antonio Stars in exchange for the thirteenth pick in the 2017 WNBA draft. June 23, 2016 Signed G Lindsey Harding June 25, 2016 The Mercury traded Courtney Williams, the rights to Jillian Alleyne and the thirteenth pick in the 2017 draft to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Kelsey Bone. The Mercury traded Noelle Quinn to the Seattle Storm for the rights to Angelica Robinson. July 8, 2016 Re-signed G Marta Xargay
Roster
Source:
Game log
Preseason
|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 | May 4 | @ Seattle | W 81–73 | Taylor, Williams (15) | Isabelle Harrison (8) | Monique Currie (7) | KeyArena3,721 | 1–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | May 8 | Seattle | L 70–76 | Mistie Bass (14) | Bass, Harrison, Petrović (6) | Bass, Petrović (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena4,074 | 1–1
Regular season
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | May 14 | @ Minnesota | L 76–95 | Diana Taurasi (18) | Bonner, Griner, Petrović (5) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Target Center9,221 | 0–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | May 18 | @ Indiana | L 93–97 | Diana Taurasi (32) | Brittney Griner (9) | Diana Taurasi (5) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse6,749 | 0–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | May 20 | Seattle | L 80–81 | Diana Taurasi (23) | Penny Taylor (7) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena13,048 | 0–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | May 25 | Minnesota | L 78–85 | Penny Taylor (25) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,368 | 0–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 5 | May 29 | Washington | W 93–77 | Diana Taurasi (28) | DeWanna Bonner (12) | Penny Taylor (4) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,228 | 1–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 6 | May 31 | Connecticut | W 99–90 | Brittney Griner (21) | DeWanna Bonner (8) | Diana Taurasi (9) | Talking Stick Resort Arena8,412 | 2–4
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 7 | June 3 | @ Seattle | L 81–95 | Penny Taylor (19) | Brittney Griner (6) | Penny Taylor (5) | KeyArena6,510 | 2–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 8 | June 7 | @ Minnesota | L 81–89 | Bonner, Griner (14) | Candice Dupree (8) | Penny Taylor (10) | Target Center7,207 | 2–6 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 9 | June 9 | San Antonio | W 90–75 | Diana Taurasi (31) | Brittney Griner (8) | DeWanna Bonner (4) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,048 | 3–6 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 10 | June 12 | Chicago | W 86–80 | Diana Taurasi (31) | Brittney Griner (10) | Candice Dupree (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,055 | 4–6 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 11 | June 17 | @ Los Angeles | L 71–77 | Candice Dupree (16) | DeWanna Bonner (9) | Dupree, Taylor (3) | Staples Center8,964 | 4–7 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 12 | June 18 | Dallas | L 111–117 (OT) | DeWanna Bonner (38) | Brittney Griner (9) | Quinn, Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena10,235 | 4–8 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 13 | June 21 | @ Dallas | L 90–100 | DeWanna Bonner (26) | Brittney Griner (8) | Diana Taurasi (6) | College Park Center6,819 | 4–9 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 14 | June 24 | @ Washington | W 91–79 | Diana Taurasi (27) | Griner, Taurasi (5) | Harding, Taurasi (5) | Capital One Arena5,136 | 5–9 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 15 | June 26 | @ New York | W 104–94 (OT) | Candice Dupree (26) | Candice Dupree (8) | Penny Taylor (7) | Madison Square Garden9,591 | 6–9 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 16 | June 29 | Connecticut | W 86–75 | Sonja Petrović (22) | Brittney Griner (8) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena10,551 | 7–9
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 17 | July 1 | New York | L 88–99 | DeWanna Bonner (22) | Candice Dupree (6) | DeWanna Bonner (5) | Talking Stick Resort Arena11,606 | 7–10 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 18 | July 3 | @ Atlanta | W 95–87 | Brittney Griner (27) | Brittney Griner (10) | Diana Taurasi (8) | Philips Arena6,557 | 8–10 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 19 | July 5 | @ Dallas | L 74–77 | Diana Taurasi (22) | Candice Dupree (6) | Brittney Griner (6) | College Park Center5,480 | 8–11 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 20 | July 8 | Indiana | L 60–78 | Bone, Taurasi (13) | Kelsey Bone (5) | Lindsey Harding (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena10,371 | 8–12 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 21 | July 10 | @ Chicago | L 95–100 | Diana Taurasi (26) | Candice Dupree (7) | Marta Xargay (6) | Allstate Arena7,021 | 8–13 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 22 | July 13 | Washington | W 78–74 | Brittney Griner (22) | Brittney Griner (8) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena10,628 | 9–13 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 23 | July 16 | San Antonio | W 83–64 | DeWanna Bonner (33) | DeWanna Bonner (8) | Harden, Harding, Xargay (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena11,539 | 10–13 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 24 | July 19 | Chicago | L 77–79 | DeWanna Bonner (20) | Bonner, Dupree (8) | Taurasi, Xargay (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,318 | 10–14
|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 25 | August 26 | Dallas | W 98–72 | Penny Taylor (22) | DeWanna Bonner (10) | Harding, Taylor, Xargay (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena11,396 | 11–14 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 26 | August 28 | Los Angeles | W 70–66 | Diana Taurasi (26) | Bone, Dupree (7) | Penny Taylor (5) | Talking Stick Resort Arena11,905 | 12–14 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 27 | August 30 | @ Indiana | W 79–65 | Brittney Griner (20) | Brittney Griner (7) | Dupree, Griner (3) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse7,250 | 13–14
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 28 | September 2 | @ Connecticut | L 74–87 | Brittney Griner (29) | Candice Dupree (10) | Harding, Taurasi, Taylor (3) | Mohegan Sun Arena6,709 | 13–15 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 29 | September 3 | @ New York | L 70–92 | Marta Xargay (16) | Candice Dupree (8) | DeWanna Bonner (4) | Madison Square Garden10,026 | 13–16 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 30 | September 6 | @ Atlanta | L 87–91 | Diana Taurasi (23) | DeWanna Bonner (7) | DeWanna Bonner (7) | Philips Arena3,625 | 13–17 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 31 | September 11 | Atlanta | W 86–75 | Brittney Griner (21) | Brittney Griner (9) | Bonner, Xargay (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,877 | 14–17 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 32 | September 14 | @ Los Angeles | L 85–90 | DeWanna Bonner (20) | Brittney Griner (16) | Marta Xargay (6) | Staples Center9,371 | 14–18 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 33 | September 15 | Seattle | W 86–62 | Brittney Griner (21) | DeWanna Bonner (9) | Diana Taurasi (5) | Talking Stick Resort Arena10,380 | 15–18 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 34 | September 18 | San Antonio | W 81–65 | Diana Taurasi (18) | Brittney Griner (7) | Taurasi, Taylor (4) | AT&T Center6,397 | 16–18
Playoffs
|- style="background:#bbffbb" | 1 | September 21 | @ Indiana | W 89–78 | Diana Taurasi (20) | Brittney Griner (9) | Penny Taylor (4) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse6,282 | 1–0
|- style="background:#bbffbb" | 1 | September 24 | @ New York | W 101–94 | Diana Taurasi (30) | Brittney Griner (10) | Brittney Griner (5) | Madison Square Garden10,227 | 1–0
|- style="background:#fcc" | 1 | September 28 | @ Minnesota | L 95–113 | Diana Taurasi (25) | Penny Taylor (5) | Dupree, Harding (5) | Xcel Energy Center9,013 | 0–1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 2 | September 30 | @ Minnesota | L 86–96 | Diana Taurasi (31) | Isabelle Harrison (9) | Penny Taylor (5) | Xcel Energy Center11,923 | 0–2 |- style="background:#fcc" | 3 | October 2 | Minnesota | L 67–82 | Bonner, Taurasi (12) | Griner, Harrison (7) | Marta Xargay (5) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,631 | 0–3
Standings
Playoffs
Statistics
Regular season
Source:
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG DeWanna Bonner 34 24 31.3 42.4% 32.9% 79.8% 5.4 2.4 1.3 0.6 14.5 Diana Taurasi 33 33 29.8 39.6% 35.0% 90.9% 3.0 3.9 0.9 0.1 17.8 Brittney Griner 34 34 29.2 54.8% — 83.1% 6.5 1.0 0.4 3.1 14.5 Candice Dupree 32 32 29.1 54.1% 0.0% 79.2% 5.3 1.9 0.8 0.2 11.3 Penny Taylor 25 25 25.7 48.8% 39.6% 90.7% 3.8 3.6 1.5 0.4 12.5 Marta Xargay 15 6 19.7 40.0% 33.3% 70.6% 1.7 2.7 1.1 0.2 5.7 Lindsey Harding 21 0 15.7 37.0% 40.0% 87.0% 1.7 2.1 0.5 0.1 3.9 Sonja Petrović 31 13 14.8 42.1% 34.4% 95.7% 2.2 0.6 0.6 0.2 5.1 Mistie Bass 33 1 13.2 46.3% — 81.5% 1.9 0.8 0.5 0.3 2.9 Noelle Quinn 13 0 9.9 24.1% 10.0% 85.7% 0.9 1.4 0.4 0.2 1.6 Kelsey Bone 20 0 9.7 38.8% 0.0% 70.0% 2.5 0.6 0.2 0.1 3.0 Alex Harden 28 1 7.5 45.0% 25.0% 50.0% 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.1 1.4 Isabelle Harrison 26 1 7.5 52.5% — 68.0% 1.8 0.0 0.4 0.1 3.1 Nirra Fields 4 0 4.3 14.3% 0.0% 50.0% — — — — 0.8 Courtney Williams 6 0 4.2 11.1% 0.0% 50.0% 1.2 0.3 — — 0.5
Playoffs
Source: