Phoenix — It’s been a season of frustration, setbacks, and many losses for the Connecticut Sun.

Connecticut’s misfortune on Thursday night — starting post Chiney Ogwumike was out injured, and the third quarter against the Phoenix Mercury.

Brittney Griner had 19 points, eight rebounds and five blocks as Phoenix beat the Sun, 86-75, before 10,551 at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

Connecticut is 3-13.

Ogwumike strained her right knee during Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Sparks. She had microfracture surgery on that knee in Jan. 2015 and missed last season because of it.

Connecticut rookie guard Rachel Banham also didn’t play due to a sore knee.

The Sun never led in Thursday’s game. Phoenix outscored them in the third quarter, 25-14. It led by as much as 64-45 late in the period.

“I thought they did a really good job going to Griner early and establishing points in the paint,” Sun head coach Curt Miller said of that quarter. “We had outscored them in points in the paint the first half, and they did a good job of establishing their inside game and establishing her dominance, and that set the tone for the second half.”

Reserve Sonja Petrovic also gave Phoenix (7-9) a boost. The Serbian forward started in place of Penny Taylor (hip contusion) and made 7 of 9 field goals for a career-high 22 points.

“This is the Sonja Petrovic that I see all the time playing in Europe,” Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello said.

DeWanna Bonner scored 18 and Diana Taurasi had 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Alex Bentley had 20 points and six assists for Connecticut and Alyssa Thomas scored 18 and eight rebounds.

Rookie reserve Jonquel Jones made 6 of her 7 shots for 16 points with nine rebounds and three blocks.

Fellow reserve Shekinna Stricklen scored 11 for the Sun. She was not expected to be at the game and was in Tennessee on Tuesday paying her final respects to Pat Summitt, her college coach. She arrived at the arena shortly before pregame.

Phoenix scored the game’s first seven points and led 27-12 less than a minute into the second quarter.

Bentley and Stricklen shot Connecticut back into the game. Stricklen scored eight in the second quarter and Bentley had 17 points at the half.

The half ended with a Stricklen 3-pointer and Bentley’s 7-foot running bank shot that cut the Mercury’s lead to 41-37.

Phoenix opened the second half with a 15-2 run. Petrovic scored six during that run and Griner added four points, three rebounds and two blocks to push the Mercury ahead, 56-39, with 4:53 left in the quarter.

“I just think we could’ve played a lot smarter offensively, and we missed a lot of post rolling to the rim and getting the easy buckets,” Bentley said. “Defensively, it was tough for us to guard BG down the stretch. She was doing well down on the block.”