Kahleah Copper's side lost to Las Vegas Aces
WNBA season ongoing
Mercury went down 86-83 but in contention for WNBA playoffs
Kahleah Copper insists the Phoenix Mercury must not dwell on their defeat against the Las Vegas Aces, despite suffering a second successive loss.
The Mercury went down 86-83 at Footprint Center, but remain fourth in the table with the race for the WNBA playoffs intensifying.
Chelsea Gray landed two free shots to give the Aces a three-point lead in the dying moments, before blocking Satou Sabally's last-gasp attempt to tie the game with eight seconds remaining.
However, Copper urged her team-mates to bounce back when they face the Seattle Storm on Sunday.
"If you imagine this game as a series, it's something to learn from," she said. "We understand what we have to do, but we just have to be able to make adjustments a little bit quicker.
"It's a little bit bigger than just this game. We're trying to head into the playoffs with a little bit of momentum, but what is dwelling on this game going to do for us? I think that's the kind of mindset you've got to have. It's just a short-term memory about the loss."
Head coach Nate Tibbetts chose to focus on the positives, with his side having trailed by 10 points at one point during the game.
"[Las Vegas] had all the momentum," he said. "We made some subs, and people came in and really competed. This is what it's going to look like moving forward, and this is what it's going to look like in the playoffs.
"You want to win those games, but we need to go through this and feel this."
