Alyssa Thomas, Historic Triple-Double: Mercury Eliminates Liberty and Advances

New Champion in the WNBA: Phoenix Mercury Advances to Semifinals

The 2025 WNBA season will have a new champion. Alyssa Thomas led the Phoenix Mercury to the semifinals, eliminating the defending champions, the New York Liberty, in an exciting third game with a score of 79-73. Thomas shined with the first 20-point triple-double in WNBA postseason history, adding 11 rebounds and 11 assists. This feat marks her ninth triple-double of the season and the fifth in WNBA playoffs in her career.

This is what she does. She impacts the game in so many different ways. She cares about one thing and that is winning. When you have a player of her caliber and with so much pride to win a game, you’re going to have a great game.

Nate Tibbetts, Mercury coach

Thomas’ performance generated “MVP” chants from the fans at the PHX Arena, as the player was shooting free throws in the final seconds of the game. Previously, she had been announced as a finalist for the MVP award. The Mercury, seeded fourth, will face the Lynx, who lead the table, in the best-of-five semifinals round, which will begin on Sunday in Minnesota. The key to the game was Phoenix’s execution in crucial moments, according to Liberty coach Sandy Brondello. Breanna Stewart of the Liberty, who suffered a medial collateral ligament sprain, scored 30 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep her team’s title defense alive. The Mercury dominated in rebounds, surpassing the Liberty 49-33. Phoenix’s stellar trio, Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally, and Alyssa Thomas, combined to score or assist on 74 of the team’s 79 points.

“AT is incredible,” said Breanna Stewart about Alyssa Thomas. “Although this sucks, I’m excited to see what she continues to do in the rest of the playoffs because we had a nightmare defending her. I’m sure everyone else will have her too.” Phoenix and Minnesota have faced each other four times this season, with the Lynx winning the regular season series 3-1. Copper and Thomas missed the first two games and Copper and Sabally missed the second two. The semifinals promise to be exciting. “They haven’t seen us at full power,” said Thomas, while Sabally added: “We are excited. Round 2, let’s go for it!”