Onward and Upward...

 In a one-game WNBA elimination playoff bracket last night, the Phoenix Mercury hung on in the final seconds to beat the New York Liberty 83 - 82.  The Mercury will take on the Storm in Seattle on Sunday at 3pm CST.

Cunningham, Turner lead Mercury to 83-82 win over Liberty

PHOENIX (AP) — Sophie Cunningham hit 6 of 9 3-pointers for a career-high 21 points and Brianna Turner made the winning free throw with less than a second to play, giving the Phoenix Mercury an 83-82 win over the New York Liberty in a first-round WNBA playoff game on Thursday night.

The upstart Liberty had tied the game on Betnijah Laney’s long 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left, but the Mercury got the ball to Turner underneath the basket on the ensuing inbounds play, forcing Sami Whitcomb to foul with 0.4 seconds remaining.

Turner’s first free throw rimmed out but she calmly made the second, moving the fifth-seeded Mercury into the second round.

In the earlier game yesterday, the Chicago Sky ended the Dallas Wings' season with an 84 - 61 win and will play the Minnesota Lynx at 5pm CST Sunday in Minneapolis.  

Candace Parker nears triple-double

Candace Parker, playing in her first playoff game with her hometown team, was on triple-double watch from the first quarter and finished with 11 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. During her postgame interview on the broadcast, she rightly gave the credit to sixth-year guard Kahleah Copper. Copper scored a game-high 23 points, 12 of which she dropped during the pivotal first quarter.

Both games Sunday are also single-elimination with the second-round winners advancing to play the Las Vegas Aces or the Connecticut Sun in the third-round, best-of-5 series.  The finals start Sunday, Oct. 10.