The Phoenix Mercury’s Satou Sabally, left, and Kahleah Copper, right, pose with the Los Angeles Clippers’ James Harden after securing the win against the New York Liberty Friday at PHX Arena. (Photo by Aryanna Frank/Getty Images)

PHOENIX – The postseason march continues for the Phoenix Mercury.

Leadership, physicality and a historic performance lifted the team past the 2024 WNBA champions, the New York Liberty, Friday at PHX Arena 79-73.

Despite the Mercury leading for more than 34 minutes of the game, New York was never more than a few steps behind. The Liberty continued to claw at the lead, trailing by seven after the first frame, then by four at the half and by just one heading into the fourth.

But a well-balanced final 10 minutes of Mercury basketball conquered a dominant-in-the-clutch Breanna Stewart, who, with a sprained MCL, scored the final 14 points for the Liberty, and the only 14 points scored by the team in the fourth.

“I’m extremely proud of this group,” coach Nate Tibbetts said. “Every time we go through something, it’s going to be the first time together. We’ve got a lot of veteran players on our team that have done it with other organizations. … In close games, we’ve been really good, and I think it’s because we guard, and there’s a certain level of trust.”

One of those veterans is Alyssa Thomas, whose name is written all over the Game 3 stat sheet. Recording yet another triple-double, she finished the contest with 20 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds. That’s in addition to her two steals and one block.

That’s another mark in the history books for the 11th-year player as she becomes the first in league history to record a 20-point postseason triple-double. This makes for five postseason Thomas triple-doubles: Only two others have done it.

“We were going to win the game,” Thomas said about the team’s mindset heading into the final quarter. “For us, it’s not about panicking. I think if you watch any of the games, you knew it was going to come down to the wire. Both of us don’t want our season to end, and for us, it’s just keeping our composure and continuing to do what we were doing.”

It never really felt as if the game was out of reach for the 2024 champions. That was until guard Kahleah Copper’s acrobatic layup to extend the lead with just 32.8 seconds left in the series. She finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Balancing out the performances from Copper and Thomas was forward Satou Sabally, who had her first playoff double-double with a team high in both points with 23 and rebounds with 12.

Those 12 rebounds were part of a larger picture that saw the Mercury winning the rebound battle in Game 2 and Game 3, after losing it by 17 in Game 1.

Both coaches knew heading into Game 3 that physical play was vital, especially on the glass. The Mercury finished the game with eight offensive rebounds to New York’s two.

“Sometimes, the most physical team wins. It’s as simple as that,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said before tipoff. “Playoff basketball, it can get a little ugly, but it’s being disruptive where you can (and) making the ball be difficult to go from A to B to C.”

Despite the loss, Brondello held her head high.

“Obviously, we’re very, very disappointed, but I couldn’t be more proud of just how we came out and competed today,” the former Mercury coach said. “We’ve faced a lot of adversity this year, which happens in pro sports, but tonight we left it all out there, and that’s all you can ask from a team.”

The Mercury head to the best-of-five semifinals to take on the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. It will be a quick turnaround for the group as it tips off Sunday against a well-rested Lynx team. Minnesota hasn’t played since Wednesday, when it swept the No. 8 Golden State Valkyries.

The purple and orange won’t be alone, though, as they’ll have the X-factor behind them. The fans sold out Friday’s winner-take-all game with 13,104 in attendance. The Mercury play their first two semifinal games on the road before returning home Friday for Game 3.

“It fuels the fire, it’s just so loud, up, down, they cheer us on, and they keep it going,” Sabally said about the crowd. “Whenever we would feel something isn’t going right, they are just cheering us on, motivating us. … Everyone is just so in it and so invested that it just makes the game a lot more fun, and you want to give 100% every time you have a Mercury jersey on.”