The Phoenix Mercury got the 2025 WNBA season started off on a good note. Phoenix dominated Seattle in a 81-59 victory on Saturday night. The Mercury got everything they could have hoped for from their new star player Satou Sabally.

Sabally had a dominating performance in her first regular season game with the Mercury. She explained after the game that a call from Brittney Griner helped motivate her performance.

“It's an honor,” Sabally said after the game. “BG called me before the game and just said [to tell everyone hi] and that meant a lot to me. So I didn't want to disappoint a legendary organization and legendary players. [Diana Taurasi] too, so just stepping into their footsteps.”

Sabally and fellow newcomer Alyssa Thomas led the charge for Phoenix on Saturday.

Sabally logged 27 points, six rebounds, and one assist in 26 minutes against the Storm. She helped fill the void left after Phoenix lost two legendary players during the offseason.

Brittney Griner left the Mercury for the Dream in free agency. Shortly afterward, legendary point guard Diana Taurasi retired from the WNBA after 20 seasons.

Sabally is giving Mercury fans hope for the future.

“With a new team, anything is possible,” Sabally concluded. “And we just spread the floor out wide. So we were playing great together.”

Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas are the next era of Mercury basketball

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Sabally is set to become the organization's future in this new era of Mercury basketball. She is only 27 years old and has plenty of gas left in the tank.

Sabally will have Alyssa Thomas as her most talented teammate for a few more seasons. After that, Phoenix will be building the team around Sabally as their crown jewel.

Sabally shared that her relationship with Thomas has grown a lot in the past few months. It will continue to get better throughout the regular season.

“It has grown tremendously,” Sabally said. “I think also by just playing against her super long and always having to guard her, and she was guarding me. We know each other pretty well, but just communicating in practice. We're coming together. We had a lot of miscommunication at first. Passes or (going) back door. What does she like? What do I like? And we just talked it through. We both came earlier before training camp and really wanted to spend some time here with coaches and for them to show us their schemes and to be able to adjust. I think that's what's really making great players.”

Next up for the Mercury is a home game against the Sparks on Wednesday night.