Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner missed her first game of the season Friday, sitting out a 90-80 loss to the Minnesota Lynx because of personal reasons.
When asked if she expected Griner would miss only one game, Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello said, "I hope so."
"We'll see," Brondello said. "I can't really go into much detail. It's personal."
Griner is Phoenix's leading scorer (17.7) and rebounder (7.5) this season. The No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft, she has been a starter for all eight of her seasons with the Mercury.
The Mercury fell to 6-7 and have lost their past three games in Bradenton, Florida.
"At this point, we're just trying to grow as a basketball team with whoever's available at whatever time," said Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, who had 14 points Friday. "I saw a lot of good things, a lot of progress from this team. We've just got to play better. It's frustrating now. We want to win games."
Minnesota was led by Napheesa Collier, who was last season's rookie of the year, and her former UConn teammate Crystal Dangerfield, who has become the favorite for this season's rookie award. They combined for 39 points.
Bria Hartley led Phoenix with 24 points, and Skylar Diggins-Smith had 21. The three-guard starting lineup of Taurasi, Hartley and Diggins-Smith was successful, but the Mercury didn't have enough inside presence.
"Brittney certainly would have helped us," Brondello said. "Minnesota did a really good job of finding mismatches and posting them up."
