Britney Griner leads Mercury past Storm, 79-69 in playoffs win

As the WNBA Playoffs opening round concluded Wednesday night, the Phoenix Mercury were the second team to advance joining the Washington Mystics. Brittney Griner led her team to a 79-69 win behind her double-double performance as she was one of four Phoenix starters to finish with double-digits for scoring. Here's the latest Storm vs. Mercury game recap including top performers, stats, and a look at what's up next for these two teams.

Playoff game recap

In Wednesday night's 79-69 win, the Phoenix Mercury received a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds from center Brittney Griner. She shot 8-for-21 overall and also had three assists along with three blocked shots. Leilani Mitchell shot 4-of-9 including a 3-for-6 rate from downtown and had 17 points while Yvonne Turner had 15 and Diana Taurus 14 points in the win.

For the losing side, All-Star center Breanna Stewart scored 23 points on 6-for-17 shooting while also grabbing eight rebounds. Jewel Loyd had 17 points and five rebounds, while Sue Bird dished out five assists and scored 10 points.

The Seattle bench managed to contribute 11 points on 5-for-18 shooting in the game.

The two teams had a relatively even matchup through the first half with the Mercury leading just 32-31. However, Phoenix erupted in the third quarter en route to a 24-15 pace. The final quarter saw the two teams each score 23 points with the game ultimately finishing at 79-69 in favor of the home team.

Overall, the Seattle storm shot just 34.9 percent for the game and 30 percent from downtown. They were outrebounded 38-31. The Phoenix Mercury shot at a rate of 38.6 percent overall and 38.9 percent from long range. They also connected on 28-of-30 free throw attempts they had in the game, good for a 93.3 percent rate.

Seattle had 13 turnovers in the game compared to 11 for the home team.

What's up next

The No. 5 seed Phoenix Mercury have advanced to the second round with tonight's win. They'll take on the No. 4 seed Connecticut Sun with the game scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. That game will be televised by ESPN2. The two teams had a few close games over the past season making this an intriguing next round matchup.

That means the Washington Mystics will face the New York Liberty in the next round. That game is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, also on ESPN2.

The Seattle Storm had a successful WNBA season per se, as they were the final team to qualify for the postseason. They nearly missed out but gained valuable experience from this campaign. They'll look to possibly add some missing pieces for the roster in the coming offseason.