Monique Currie scores 29, Mercury down Wings in overtime

Monique Currie scored 29 points Thursday night as the Phoenix Mercury topped the Dallas Wings 101-100 in overtime on ESPN2. The Mercury now sit fifth in the WNBA standings, gaining half a game on the idle Liberty. Diana Taurasi, Emma Cannon and Danielle Robinson also had big scoring nights for Phoenix, who found a way to win on the road without Brittney Griner.

Glory Johnson put in 25 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists for Dallas; Allisha Gray added 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. The Wings got to the free throw line a whopping 35 times but were unable to seal the deal at home.

Currie was the leading scorer Thursday night in the W, so let’s take a look at her buckets. She got the start, shot 11-19 from the floor and went 5-for-7 from the stripe in just under 36 minutes. Currie got cooking seconds after the opening tip:

Moments later, Currie strung a couple buckets together going to her left:

She hit a huge triple late, which you may have seen already. Here’s her first, which came late in the opening quarter:

At about the same time in the second, Currie used a left-to-right crossover in transition to flip in a nifty floater:

You’ll have to go back and rewatch that part of the game with your WNBA League Pass subscription to get the full context on Rebecca Lobo’s “Big Baller Bride” line.

Currie cashed in twice more in a hurry before the half, getting all the way to the cup:

After scoring 15 in the first half, Currie looked to still have the hot hand to open the third:

The net barely moved.

Currie got her defender to commit over the screen with a jab step, then spun into the lane beautifully with a spin. Glory Johnson got a hand up to contest the jumper. Hats off to Currie for that one.

Moments later, she tossed in a nasty step back from the left baseline:

All net.

Let’s take a quick break from all the scoring to be sure to point out that Currie also blocked two shots, came away with four steals and dished out 6 assists:

Back to buckets.

This next jumper put Phoenix up by one headed toward the fourth:

You’ve seen 10 Monique Currie buckets. The 11th came inside 1:00 in overtime, again putting Phoenix up by one:

That’s as good as it gets in both execution and the end result for an under out.

The final anticlimactic sequence of this one possession overtime game will likely be the biggest topic of conversation, though. Dallas failed to get a shot up before the buzzer after Currie turned it over in the final 30 seconds.

In case you missed it:

Currie was interviewed after the final horn by Holly Rowe.

And that’s how the Mercury locked up their 14th win of the season. With that huge performance from Currie in mind (and word that Brittney Griner will be back for Phoenix’s next game on Saturday), how high can the Mercury climb up the standings?

On the flip side, does Thursday night’s result change your outlook on the race for the final playoff slots?