Alyssa Thomas powered the Phoenix Mercury to a thrilling 91-89 win over the No. 3 seed Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, finishing with a near triple-double of 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Thomas struggled in the first three quarters, but she stepped up when it mattered most. She scored 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Mercury staged a comeback after falling behind by as many as 13 points. The 34-year-old playmaker gave Phoenix a 73-71 lead with 5:11 left to play, and the team never trailed again en route to securing the victory.
Phoenix improved to 11-18 on the season with the win, keeping its playoff hopes alive. The team is currently 10th in the WNBA standings, five games behind the No. 8 seed Washington Mystics.
While it was a statement win for the Mercury, it wasn't without issues. For one, Thomas received a technical foul during the game.
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Early in the second quarter, Thomas and Valkyries guard Kaila Charles were assessed double technical fouls. It was Thomas' fifth tech of the season, which puts her in line to pay a $1,000 fine.
The WNBA rules state that a player's fourth through seventh technical fouls each carry a $1,000 fine.
Furthermore, because it's her fifth technical foul, the WNBA will send Thomas a warning letter as she closes in on the limit. Once a player reaches eight technical fouls, they are hit with a $1,500 fine and automatically suspended for one game.
Every even-numbered technical foul after that — meaning the 10th, 12, 14th technical fouls and so on — also carries a one-game suspension.
The Mercury have 15 games left this season, so Thomas will certainly need to be more careful if she wants to avoid getting suspended amid the team's attempt to make the playoffs.
Thomas also has two flagrant points already, which came from her controversial incident with Caitlin Clark. Once a player reaches four flagrant points, they receive a one-game suspension as well.
