2012 Phoenix Mercury season

The 2012 WNBA season was the 16th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. Until the 2023 Season, this was last time the Mercury missed the playoffs.

2012 Phoenix Mercury season
Coach	Corey Gaines
Arena	US Airways Center
Attendance	per game
Results
Record	7–27 (.206)
Place	6th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Media
Television	FS-A ESPN2, NBATV
← 2011 season 2013 season →

Transactions

WNBA draft

The following are the Mercury's selections in the 2012 WNBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/team/country
1	6	Samantha Prahalis	United States	Ohio State
2	24 (from Minn.)	C'eria Ricketts	United States	Arkansas
3	30	Christine Flores	United States	Missouri
3	33 (from Conn.)	Amanda Johnson	United States	Oregon

Transaction log

• April 11, 2011: The Mercury acquired a third-round pick in the 2012 Draft from the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Tahnee Robinson's draft rights.
• January 12: The Mercury traded Temeka Johnson to the Tulsa Shock in exchange for Andrea Riley.^[1]
• February 2: The Mercury acquired Alexis Hornbuckle from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2013 Draft.^[2]
• February 9: The Mercury signed Chastity Reed.
• February 28: The Mercury traded the 18th pick in the 2012 Draft to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Charde Houston and the 24th pick in the 2012 Draft.^[3]
• April 11: The Mercury signed Zane Tamane and Brittney Thomas.
• April 13: The Mercury signed Dymond Simon.
• April 13: The Mercury announced Marie Ferdinand-Harris' retirement.
• April 26: The Mercury signed Avery Warley.
• May 2: The Mercury signed draft picks Christine Flores, Amanda Johnson, Samantha Prahalis, and C'eira Ricketts.
• May 3: The Mercury waived Brittney Thomas.^[4]
• May 8: The Mercury waived C'eira Ricketts and Christine Flores.^[5]
• May 16: The Mercury waived Chastity Reed, Dymond Simon, Krystal Thomas, and Amanda Johnson.
• May 25: The Mercury signed Krystal Thomas and waived Zane Tamane.
• June 2: The Mercury signed Andrea Riley.
• July 1: The Mercury waived Andrea Riley.
• July 5: The Mercury signed Lynetta Kizer to a seven-day contract.

Trades

Date	Trade
January 12, 2012	To Phoenix Mercury	To Tulsa Shock
	Andrea Riley	Temeka Johnson
February 2, 2012	To Phoenix Mercury	To Minnesota Lynx
	Alexis Hornbuckle	Second-round pick in 2013 Draft
February 28, 2012	To Phoenix Mercury	To Minnesota Lynx
	Charde Houston and the 24th pick in the 2012 Draft	18th pick in the 2012 Draft

Personnel changes

Additions Player Signed Former team Alexis Hornbuckle February 2, 2012 Minnesota Lynx Charde Houston February 28, 2012 Minnesota Lynx Samantha Prahalis April 16, 2012 draft pick Avery Warley April 26, 2012 free agent Lynetta Kizer July 5, 2012 free agent

Subtractions Player Left New team Temeka Johnson January 12, 2012 Tulsa Shock Sidney Spencer February 28, 2012 free agent Ketia Swanier March 1, 2012 Atlanta Dream Marie Ferdinand-Harris April 13, 2012 retired Alexis Gray-Lawson September 1, 2012 free agent

Roster

2012 Phoenix Mercury roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 24 Bonner, DeWanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 137 lb (62kg) 1987-08-21 Auburn 3 F 4 Dupree, Candice 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1984-08-16 Temple 6 G 14 Hornbuckle, Alexis 5' 10" (1.78m) 155 lb (70kg) 1985-10-16 Tennessee 4 F 22 Houston, Charde 6' 0" (1.83m) 189 lb (86kg) 1986-04-10 Connecticut 4 C 12 Kizer, Lynetta 6' 4" (1.93m) 1990-04-04 Maryland R G 99 Prahalis, Samantha 5' 7" (1.7m) 129 lb (59kg) 1990-01-23 Ohio State R F/C 43 Sanford, Nakia 6' 4" (1.93m) 195 lb (88kg) 1976-05-10 Kansas 9 G 1 Simon, Dymond 5' 5" (1.65m) 137 lb (62kg) 1989-09-29 Arizona State R G 3 Taurasi, Diana 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 1982-06-11 Connecticut 8 F 13 Taylor, Penny  6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) 1981-05-24 Australia 10 F/C 34 Thomas, Krystal 6' 5" (1.96m) 195 lb (88kg) 1989-06-10 Duke 1	Head coach Corey Gaines (Loyola Marymount) Assistant coaches Earl Cureton (Detroit Mercy) Julie Hairgrove (Arizona) Athletic trainer Tamara Poole (Cal State Dominguez Hills) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth

Pos.	Starter	Bench
C	Nakia Sanford	Krystal Thomas Lynetta Kizer
PF	Candice Dupree	Avery Warley
SF	DeWanna Bonner	Charde Houston Penny Taylor
SG	Diana Taurasi
PG	Samantha Prahalis	Alexis Hornbuckle

Season standings

Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Minnesota Lynx z	27	7	.794	–	16–1	11–6	17–5
Los Angeles Sparks x	24	10	.706	3.0	16–1	8–9	15–7
San Antonio Silver Stars x	21	13	.618	6.0	12–5	9–8	14–8
Seattle Storm x	16	18	.471	11.0	10–7	6–11	11–11
Tulsa Shock o	9	25	.265	18.0	6–11	3–14	5–17
Phoenix Mercury o	7	27	.206	20.0	3–14	4–13	4–18

Schedule

Preseason

2012 Game Log: Preseason (May) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 Tue 8 10:00 Japan 102-73 Gray-Lawson (34) Tamane Warley (13) Prahalis (7) US Airways Center 2,752 1-0

Regular season

2012 Game Log: Regular Season
May (1–3) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 Sun 20 12:30 @ Minnesota ABC 83-105 Houston (24) Sanford (6) Prahalis (6) Target Center 12,611 0-1 2 Tue 22 8:00 @ Tulsa 89-87 Dupree (31) Dupree (9) Prahalis (7) BOK Center 5,341 1-1 3 Sat 26 10:00 Los Angeles FS-A+ KDOC 88-99 Dupree (24) Warley (9) Taurasi (4) US Airways Center 10,200 1-2 4 Thu 31 7:00 @ Atlanta FS-A SSO 65-81 Bonner (22) Bonner (10) Prahalis (6) Philips Arena 4,887 1-3
June (3–6) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 5 Fri 1 8:00 @ San Antonio 66-85 Bonner Dupree (17) Dupree (10) Prahalis (9) AT&T Center 6,534 1-4 6 Sun 3 6:00 Tulsa 79-72 Bonner (23) Bonner (13) Prahalis (6) US Airways Center 7,178 2-4 7 Fri 8 11:00 @ Los Angeles TWC101 74-90 Houston (22) Bonner Gray-Lawson (6) Prahalis (6) Staples Center 11,198 2-5 8 Fri 15 10:00 Minnesota 60-78 Bonner (18) Dupree (10) Prahalis (4) US Airways Center 7,394 2-6 9 Sun 17 4:00 @ Tulsa 75-87 Bonner (24) Bonner (9) Prahalis (6) BOK Center 4,200 2-7 10 Wed 20 10:00 Washington 80-77 Bonner (19) Warley (9) Bonner Prahalis (3) US Airways Center 5,751 3-7 11 Sat 23 8:00 Los Angeles ESPN 84-93 Bonner (24) Thomas (11) Prahalis (5) US Airways Center 9,670 3-8 12 Wed 27 8:00 @ Minnesota FS-A+ 80-96 Bonner (23) Bonner Warley (7) Prahalis (3) Target Center 9,674 3-9 13 Fri 29 8:30 @ Chicago CN100 84-81 Bonner (27) Thomas (11) Houston Prahalis (4) Allstate Arena 5,488 4-9
July (0–6) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 14 Sun 1 4:00 @ Washington CSN-MA 77-90 Houston (26) Bonner Thomas (8) Prahalis (5) Verizon Center 10,789 4-10 15 Tue 3 8:00 @ San Antonio NBATV 81-82 Bonner (38) Bonner Thomas (8) Prahalis (5) AT&T Center 6,912 4-11 16 Sat 7 10:00 Atlanta 93-100 (2OT) Bonner (27) Bonner (15) Hornbuckle Prahalis Thomas (4) US Airways Center 7,948 4-12 17 Sun 8 9:00 @ Seattle 68-83 Bonner (12) Warley (13) Bonner (3) KeyArena 8,639 4-13 18 Tue 10 3:30 Los Angeles FS-A 71-90 Bonner Prahalis (14) 5 players (7) Hornbuckle (3) US Airways Center 9,336 4-14 19 Fri 13 10:00 Seattle 64-83 Bonner (18) Hornbuckle (8) Hornbuckle (5) US Airways Center 7,647 4-15 Summer Olympic break
August (1–4) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record Summer Olympic break 20 Thu 16 10:00 @ Seattle KONG 58-72 Prahalis (15) Thomas (11) Bonner (4) KeyArena 6,987 4-16 21 Sun 19 6:00 San Antonio FS-A FS-SW 47-89 Hornbuckle (11) Hornbuckle Thomas (7) Prahalis (4) US Airways Center 10,656 4-17 22 Thu 23 10:00 New York 77-89 Bonner (34) Thomas (14) Prahalis (4) US Airways Center 7.039 4-18 23 Sat 25 10:00 Indiana 72-85 Taurasi (19) Bonner Thomas Warley (9) Bonner Taurasi (3) US Airways Center 9,079 4-19 24 Thu 30 10:00 @ Seattle KONG 75-68 Bonner (24) Bonner (11) Prahalis (6) KeyArena 6,379 5-19
September (2–8) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 25 Sat 1 10:00 San Antonio NBATV 94-90 Taurasi (25) Bonner (9) Prahalis (5) US Airways Center 5,964 6-19 26 Wed 5 7:00 @ New York NBATV MSG 59-87 Bonner (20) Hornbuckle Gilbreath (7) Hornbuckle (5) Prudential Center 4,732 6-20 27 Fri 7 7:00 @ Connecticut CPTV-S 91-82 Bonner (35) Thomas (16) Hornbuckle (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,379 7-20 28 Sun 9 6:00 @ Indiana NBATV FS-A+ FS-I 83-89 Bonner (23) Hornbuckle (9) Bonner (5) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,971 7-21 29 Wed 12 10:00 Connecticut ESPN2 CPTV-S 78-100 Bonner (24) Bonner (10) Simon (4) US Airways Center 5,421 7-22 30 Fri 14 10:00 Tulsa 84-92 Kizer (19) Thomas (11) Simon (6) US Airways Center 6,719 7-23 31 Sun 16 6:00 Chicago NBATV CN100 55-86 Houston (15) Thomas (13) Houston (3) US Airways Center 8,044 7-24 32 Tue 18 10:30 @ Los Angeles NBATV TWC101 76-101 Bonner (23) Thomas (11) Bonner (6) Staples Center 8,579 7-25 33 Fri 21 10:00 Minnesota NBATV FS-A+ 66-89 Bonner (17) Thomas (11) Prahalis (8) US Airways Center 7,217 7-26 34 Sun 23 3:00 Seattle ESPN2 57-71 Bonner (13) Thomas (18) Prahalis (6) US Airways Center 7,576 7-27
All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess or ESPN3.com

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and honors