Diana Taurasi tossed as Phoenix Mercury lose WNBA Finals rematch against Chicago Sky

CHICAGO -- WNBA all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi was ejected late in the second quarter of Tuesday's 73-70 loss to the Chicago Sky -- the Phoenix Mercury's sixth straight defeat -- after berating a referee.

With Phoenix down 10 and 3:43 left in the second quarter, Taurasi appeared upset over a no-call on her defender, Candace Parker, as she attempted a shot in the paint. Taurasi pounded her fist in her hand and shouted at referee Jenna Reneau on the baseline. Taurasi received a technical and then continued to follow Reneau toward midcourt, expressing her outrage as teammates attempted to get in between her and the ref. Taurasi was tossed shortly after that.

As first-year Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard walked Taurasi toward the tunnel, cameras captured that Taurasi's left forearm appeared to be bleeding. Nygaard said after the game that Taurasi sustained contact throughout that the refs didn't call.

"Her whole arm is scratched up and bleeding. Dee doesn't get any technicals she doesn't want, but that was a lot," Nygaard said. "That was out of line. If she is physically bleeding, there's blood dripping off of her, and it's not a foul, and you expect her not to be upset, and she's hit multiple times before, and she's officiated in a different way. I don't really get it. ... I'll let my players know they can draw blood and a foul won't be called."

Taurasi, 39, who is in her 18th WNBA season, finished the game with 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist in 13 minutes.

Without Taurasi, who picked up her first ejection since 2019 and has earned three technicals so far in 2022, Phoenix rallied back from a double-figure deficit to storm ahead by eight going into the fourth.

Behind Courtney Vandersloot's 12 fourth-quarter points, Chicago answered late to keep the Mercury out of the win column in a rematch of the 2021 WNBA Finals -- which the Sky won in four games. But Phoenix saw improvement Tuesday on the defensive end, where the Mercury held Chicago to just 41% shooting and a 26% clip from 3.

"It's no surprise, everyone knows that Dee can get to that level. I think the returning players who have been here, they did a good job communicating to us just 'we need to stay together,'" said Tina Charles, who led all scorers with a season-high 25 points. "They were very poised, and Skylar [Diggins-Smith] was the vocal point in the huddles, just making sure we stayed together during that time."

After obtaining Charles and Diamond DeShields in free agency, the Mercury were tabbed potential championship contenders with their lineup full of Olympians, All-Stars and budding young talent. But with Tuesday's loss, they have fallen to 2-7 on the season, their sole wins over a Seattle Storm team without Breanna Stewart and fellow starter Mercedes Russell. They currently are 10th in the WNBA standings.

Throughout, Phoenix has been without perennial All-Star and MVP candidate Brittney Griner, whom the U.S. State Department says has been wrongfully detained in Russia.

"It's not fun," Nygaard said. "I'm the leader, so it's all on me. I take 100% of the blame... It's on me and how I prepare them and how I got them ready, and I have to be better."