Mercury waive two forwards to finalize roster

Published May. 23, 2013 3:10 p.m. ET

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The Phoenix Mercury on Thursday announced their final 11-player roster for the 2013 season opener on Monday, when they host the Chicago Sky at US Airways Center.

Forwards Ify Ibekwe and Nikki Greene were waived to bring the roster from 13 players to the required 11.

The Mercury will be bolstered by a returning core group that includes three-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi, three-time All-Stars Penny Taylor and Candice Dupree, and DeWanna Bonner, who finished second in the league in scoring in 2012 and has three times been named the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year. All but one of the 11 players was on the roster in 2012, with the lone exception being rookie Brittney Griner, the top overall selection in the 2013 draft.

The 6-foot-8 Griner is joined on the front line by 6-5 Krystal Thomas (third year), 6-4 Bonner (fifth year), 6-4 Lynetta Kizer (second year) and 6-2 Dupree (eighth year). Point guards Samantha Prahalis (5-7) and Alexis Hornbuckle (5-10) are the only two on the roster who stand shorter than 6-foot.

Hornbuckle joins Taurasi and Taylor as Mercury players with multiple championship rings. She won titles with the Detroit Shock in 2008 and the Minnesota Lynx in 2011, while Taurasi and Taylor led Phoenix to WNBA championships in 2007 and 2009. Collectively, Mercury players own eight championship rings and have played in a combined 117 playoff games.