Sabally scores 27, Thomas adds 20 to help new-look Mercury beat Storm 81-59

PHOENIX (AP) — Satou Sabally scored 27 points, Alyssa Thomas added 20 and Phoenix never trailed Saturday night as the Mercury beat the Seattle Storm 81-59 in the season opener for both teams.

Thomas, who also had seven rebounds and six assists, and Sabally came to Phoenix in the offseason by way of sign-and-trade deals from Connecticut and Dallas, respectively.

Eight players made their debut for the Mercury, the most to do so in the same game for the franchise since nine did so in 1999 — the WNBA’s inaugural season.

Skylar Diggins scored 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting and Nneka Ogwumike made 5 of 10 from the field and finished with 12 points for the Storm. The rest of the team combined to shoot 23% (9 of 39).

Monique Akoa Makani made a layup — her first WNBA points — and Kalani Brown followed with another to give the Mercury a 73-53 lead with 4:29 to play and spark a 12-1 run.

Phoenix shot 52% (30 of 58) from the field.

Sabally scored 17 points and Thomas added 13 to help the Mercury take a 41-30 lead at halftime.

Dominique Malonga, the No. 2 pick in last month’s draft, made her debut for the Storm. The 6-foot-6 19-year-old finished with two points in nearly 10 minutes.

Kahleah Copper (knee) and Natasha Mack (back) did not play for Phoenix. Copper averaged 21.1 points per game last season, third most in the WNBA.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball