PHOENIX — Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally left Game 3 of the WNBA Finals with an apparent head injury on Wednesday night at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Sabally, who scored 24 points, left the game with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Mercury forward went up for a shot and made contact with Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young. When Sabally came down from her elevation while simultaneously trying to grab an offensive rebound, she got tangled up with Young and fell to the ground. As she was falling, she made contact with Aces forward Kierstan Bell’s knee. Young was called for a loose-ball foul.
The foul was reviewed for a possible upgrade, but the call on the floor was upheld. Sabally stayed down for several minutes before rising to her feet and going down again. Sabally was on the ground for several more seconds before standing up again and walking to the tunnel with assistance. She did not return to the game, which the Mercury lost 90-88 to the Aces to go down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Mercury coach Nate Tibbets said in his postgame press conference that he went to the locker room postgame, but Sabally was not there. He didn’t have an update on the injury or her status for Game 4 on Friday.
“I would guess she got hit in the face or the head,’ Tibbets said later.
It’s unclear if Sabally will be able to play Friday. If she did suffer a head injury, she would likely enter the league’s concussion protocol, which requires multiple steps before participating in basketball activities. The gradual return to those activities can not begin until at least 24 hours after the concussion, there are no symptoms when the athlete is at rest and the player has been evaluated and cleared by a doctor, according to the policy.
