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The Liberty and Mercury had a very different Friday night.

The Liberty continued a four-game road trip with a visit to Phoenix. For the Mercury, it was their first home game in 16 days.

The Mercury, who entered the game fresh off a franchise-record 17 3-pointers in a road win last week, proceeded to top that performance with 18 Friday night in their 106-91 beatdown of the Liberty.

“I think we’re all disappointed. I’m not speaking out of mind here,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said after the loss. “These players are disappointed. And the only way we can go forward is what we do now moving forward. We can’t change this result, but we’ve got to be better if we want to be one of the best teams.”

While the Mercury were hot from start to finish, Liberty stars Breanna Stewart (17 points) and Sabrina Ionescu (nine points) struggled, especially early in the game.

The pair started a combined 1-for-10 from the field in the first quarter and went into halftime 3-for-13. Stewart had five points, while Ionescu had three at the break. Ionescu, who has been dealing with a nagging neck injury, did not look like herself.

“She’s not 100 percent, but she’s still good to go,” Brondello said of Ionescu. “If she says she’s good to go, she’s good to go. She’ll be OK. Sabrina, she is tough. She didn’t show it today, but she’s tough.”

Kennedy Burke and Marine Johannès, who each had 10 points off the bench, gave the Liberty an early lift, scoring 19 of the team’s 43 first-half points.

Burke, Johannès, Nyara Sabally (14 points, six rebounds) and Isabelle Harrison (10 points) were a combined 11-for-13 from the field in the first half, while the rest of the team went 5-for-20.

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“It was just kind of the positions I was in,” Sabally said of her performance. “Also, in the second half coach Sandy told me all day just to get down and post up and be aggressive, so just kind of that mindset.”

While the Liberty struggled, everything went right for the Mercury, especially in a first half in which they built an 18-point lead at the break.

Every player who drew minutes for the Phoenix in the half scored as they shot 60 percent from the field, 11-for-21 from 3, and three players scored in double figures.

The Liberty had no answers for Alyssa Thomas, who put together one of her typical do-it-all performances, tallying 17 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds.

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For every swing the Liberty took, Phoenix seemed to have the counter.

Sami Whitcomb and Satou Sabally, Nyara’s sister, were lights out from long range for Phoenix, finishing a combined 12-for-17 from deep.

Satou got the better of Nyara, with a game-high 25 points, six rebounds, three assists and seven 3-pointers.

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The Liberty received contributions from Stewart and Ionescu — their Big 2 — later in the game, but it wasn’t enough.

Stewart turned things on in the third quarter, scoring 10 points and helping the Liberty cut the deficit down to seven points.

Ionescu then scored six quick points to open the fourth, but Stewart did not tally another point until the final four minutes as the Liberty’s comeback sputtered.

“We gave up 61 at halftime,” Brondello said. “I’ve never been a part of a game ever to have that. We had no fight. I think we went away from what our strength is. Our strength is we’re doing things together, so it’s disappointing.

“We’ve got to find a way to dig deeper, we’ve just got to play tougher, and if you don’t bring effort, you’re gonna get exploited. And [Phoenix] is a really good team that can shoot the crap out of it.”