When the Phoenix Mercury announced they were re-signing Sami Whitcomb on April 13, fans knew it was only a matter of time before she would break WNBA records. Already tied with Duke Blue Devils head coach Kara Lawson for the most three-pointers (306) off the bench, Whitcomb entered the season needing just one more to stand apart. Now, while it did take longer than anyone expected, on Monday night, the veteran finally had her moment.
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In a matchup against the Minnesota Lynx, Whitcomb knocked down three of her four attempts from beyond the arc, which has now taken her career total to 309 three-pointers made off the bench and moved her past Lawson. The Phoenix Mercury posted Whitcomb’s achievement on their official X page, celebrating the milestone. The path to this record, however, was far from smooth
Shortly before the start of the regular season, Phoenix announced that Whitcomb would undergo arthroscopic surgery on her left knee after suffering an injury during practice. The veteran was ruled out for four to six weeks, forcing her to watch the opening stretch of the season from the sidelines instead of chasing the record everyone expected her to break early in the year.
She eventually returned to the court just a few days ago against the Indiana Fever, but failed to make any threes in her first two games back. However, just two games later, the 37-year-old has successfully inked her name in the record books.
But still, this milestone came in a bittersweet fashion, because despite her shooting display, the Mercury suffered their fourth straight defeat, falling 104-100 to the Lynx in another close contest.
What’s next for Sami Whitcomb and the Mercury?
The Mercury now sit at 8-17 on the season, 12th overall in the league table. To their credit, they did manage to put together three straight wins not too long ago, but they are once again on a streak of four losses.
A big reason behind this slump has been Phoenix’s lack of depth, especially in the frontcourt.
Since Natasha Mack went down with a bone bruise in her left foot, the Mercury have struggled to replace her presence in the paint. Without one of their best rebounders and interior defenders, players like forward Alyssa Thomas and guard DeWanna Bonner have been forced to take on even larger roles, while opponents have consistently found success attacking inside.
Though Whitcomb’s return has given Phoenix a much-needed boost in depth and perimeter shooting, it hasn’t been enough to fix the team’s biggest issues. The Mercury defense has been the culprit. They allow 87.3 points per game—4.7 more than they score, making it difficult to close out games despite their offensive firepower.
Still, head coach Nate Tibbetts wasn’t dwelling on the negatives after their latest defeat as he chose to focus on the positives that came out of the night.
“We had some really good performances,” he said after the game, as per The IX Sports’ reporter Aya Abdeen.
“DB maybe got into the top five as far as steals in the league. Sami set a WNBA record for most threes off the bench, and then Kah and AT just really tried to will us to a victory.”
So with their next game set against the Connecticut Sun on July 17, the Mercury will be hoping to bounce back and finally put an end to this four-game skid. They’ll also be counting on Sami Whitcomb to keep settling back into the rotation after her lengthy injury layoff, with Sunday’s record-breaking night hopefully just the beginning.