5. After capturing the 8th and final spot in the WNBA’s new playoff format this season, the Mercury faced two single-elimination road games to earn a spot in the team’s fourth-straight WNBA Semifinals round. In just her third season as head coach, Brondello and the Mercury topped both Indiana and New York in the first and second, win-or-go-home, rounds, becoming the only road team road team to win a single-elimination road game this season. The two wins gave Brondello her 10th and 11th postseason wins with Phoenix, tying her for the most postseason wins by a Mercury coach (Corey Gaines) in franchise history.
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September 11, 2015 – 20th win of season vs. Los Angeles
4. Coming off a championship year in 2014, Brondello led the Mercury, who were without all-stars Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor, to a second consecutive 20+ win season in 2015. It marked the first time in franchise history that Phoenix posted back-to-back 20+ win seasons, with both occurring under Brondello.
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August 17, 2014 – 29th win of season at Seattle
3. Before the Mercury’s dominating playoff run in 2014, the Mercury ended the regular season with a 78-65 win at Seattle on August 17 with Brondello at the helm. The win marked the team’s 29th win of the year, setting the WNBA record for the most wins in a season. The record set in just Brondello’s first season occurred largely in part of Phoenix’s 16-game win streak from June 15 – July 29, which marked the second-longest win streak in WNBA history.
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2014 WNBA Title
2. In addition to being named coach of the year and guiding the Mercury to its 29 regular-season wins in 2014, Brondello capped her first season in Phoenix by leading the Mercury to its third WNBA Championship in franchise history. She became the first former player to win a WNBA Title as a head coach and is the only coach to win a WNBA title in the first year with a team since the league’s inaugural season (Van Chancelor, Houston – 1997).
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2014 WNBA Coach of the Year
1. In just her first season as head coach in Phoenix, Sandy Brondello led the Mercury to a league-record 29 wins in the regular season. Brondello was named WNBA Coach of the Year, becoming the first Mercury head coach in franchise history to win the accolade. She became the first coach since Michael Cooper in 2000 to win the award in first year with a team and joined Suzie McConnell-Serio as just the second former player in WNBA history to be named coach of the year.