The Phoenix Mercury will be without their all-time leading scorer, Diana Taurasi, for the rest of the season due to a quad injury.
Yvonne Turner was signed to a hardship contract to fill a roster spot.
The second-best player on the team was Taurasi, with 16.7 points and 3.9 assists per game. The five-time Olympic gold medal winner was injured in a loss to Connecticut and did not play again.
Heading into the Mercury's two most recent games, Taurasi was listed as "questionable", with the head coach indicating before Saturday's game against the Liberty that she was being evaluated to see if she could play.
Six teams are vying for three unclaimed playoffs spots. The Mercury would have secured the eighth and final playoff spot had the regular season ended Tuesday, but they are just a half game behind the Liberty.
The Mercury had a good chance of making the playoffs before the news of Taurasi's injury. The Phoenix Mercury have three games left in the regular season, all at home.
The Mercury parted ways with their head coach, Sandy Brondello, in the summer after they made it to the finals. The perennial All-Star was sentenced to nine years in prison for bringing cannabis into Russia. Tina Charles signed with the Storm in hopes of winning a title after taking a buyout in June.
Other players have missed time due to injury at various other points this season, with the exception of Nurse, who tore herACL in the playoffs last season. The Mercury beat the Liberty 76-62 on Saturday in a must-win game for both teams.
Taurasi, who just turned 40 in June, had struggled this season, both with her shooting efficiency and on the defensive end. She helped propel the fifth-seeded Mercury to the Finals last season after dealing with sternum, ankle and foot injuries over the course of the summer. She is one of three players to record 500 points, 100 rebound and 100 assists this season, along with teammate Diggins- Smith, and in July became the first 40-year-old to score 30 points in a game in the league.
She said before the season that she would become a free agent after this season. Since being drafted in 2004, she has played in Phoenix.
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