Mercury end 4-game losing streak with 93-73 rout of reeling Storm

PHOENIX (AP) — Valeriane Ayayi had 18 points and 10 rebounds and the Phoenix Mercury snapped a four-game losing streak by extending the Seattle Storm's skid to 10 straight in a 93-73 victory on Saturday.

Kahleah Copper added 17 points for the Mercury (5-12), who pulled away with a 14-0 run to start the third quarter.

Phoenix got double-doubles from Noemie Brochant with 16 points and 10 assists, and Natasha Mack — 10 points and 10 rebounds. Lexi Held scored 11 in her first career start, while DeWanna Bonner added 10 points.

Natisha Hiedeman led the Storm (3-14) with 20 points and rookie Flau'jae Johnson scored 13. Dominique Malonga and reserve Zia Cooke added 10 points each.

Seattle led 24-19 after one quarter on 48% shooting, but finished at 36%.

Ayayi hit a 3-pointer and Copper added two free throws to finish off a 13-0 run in the second quarter for a 43-29 lead. Seattle went on a 12-5 run behind seven points from Malonga to cut it to 48-41 at halftime.

Seattle: Hosts Dallas Wings on Monday.

Phoenix: At Indiana Fever on Monday.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Seattle Storm guard Flau'jae Johnson, right, tries to get off a shot as Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) comes in for the block during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Seattle Storm guard Flau'jae Johnson (4) drives to the basket as Phoenix Mercury center Kyara Linskens (31) defends during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Seattle Storm guard Natisha Hiedeman (2) drives past Phoenix Mercury forward Noemie Brochant (1) and Mercury forward Kahleah Copper (2) to score during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Phoenix Mercury forward Valeriane Ayayi (11) smiles while celebrating a 3-pointer against the Seattle Storm with Mercury forward Noemie Brochant (1) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — U.S. and Iranian negotiators headed to a Swiss venue Saturday for talks on adding key details to their interim agreement to halt the war, hours after Tehran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that little might be achieved if the fighting doesn’t stop.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in response, unleashed a new threat to impose American tolls in the crucial waterway if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days, saying the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.” The agreement calls for toll-free travel for 60 days.

The announcements indicated a rough start to the technical-level talks that key mediator Pakistan said will begin Sunday, with Qatari mediators also participating.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance left for Switzerland on Saturday evening, just as Iranian state TV posted video showing Iran's negotiators arriving there. They are led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others. The deal calls for billions of dollars of Iran’s assets to be unfrozen.

Talks were meant to start Friday, but the Iranians canceled plans to attend because of escalating fighting in Lebanon. Negotiators for the U.S. and Qatar, with help from Iran, worked out an agreement between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group to tamp down hostilities, according to U.S. and regional officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Vance told reporters he would be in Switzerland “for a day or two” but was optimistic about making progress in talks about Iran's nuclear program and on a ceasefire in southern Lebanon. He earlier confirmed that top negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland.

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told state TV that negotiations toward a final agreement will begin once key commitments are upheld. If they are not, “the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized.”

The strait has emerged again as a focus. Iran’s joint military command said it was closed because of the U.S. “clear breach of its commitments” by failing to end the war. The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon.

The U.S. disputed Iran's announcement.

“Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command. The military said that 55 merchant ships transited Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil.

The global economy braced for more uncertainty.

Ships began transiting after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that left plenty of questions unanswered. The U.S. lifted its blockade of Iran’s ports and now allows Tehran to sell its oil freely — terms that have left some in U.S. Congress asking whether the war was worth it.

The interim deal signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear agreement, but the issue is intricate and the time can be extended.

Earlier Saturday, as mediators tried to get the parties to Switzerland, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Iran informed the militant group that Tehran won't reopen the strait until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon and an end to military operations there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

The official said that Hezbollah would commit to a ceasefire if Israel does.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, later said that the military had received “updated directives from the political echelon to cease fire.” The official said that the military is operating in a defensive manner in Lebanon, which includes the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.

The official also said that five Israeli soldiers had been killed in the past 48 hours in southern Lebanon.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal between the U.S. and Iran.

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people, including two children. Seven people were trapped under rubble after strikes hit the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.

An Israeli military official said that Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight. Israel's army said that it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants.

The death toll in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war has surpassed 4,000, Lebanon’s health ministry later announced.

Hezbollah and Israel went to war two days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.

A new round of U.S.-backed talks between the Lebanese government, and Israel is expected in Washington next week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon.

The dead in Lebanon included parents and two children in Barish village. In Arab Salim village, a body was pulled from a destroyed house, and in Doueir and Kfar Rumman villages, drone strikes killed a person on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier. Nine people were killed in strikes in Qannarit, Sohmor and Shehour villages.

Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre.

“Our entire lives would change if there’s a ceasefire,” said one resident, Hussein Khoshman.

Some residents of northern Israel doubted the fighting would stop.

“I don’t believe in a ceasefire because it doesn’t exist,” said Miriam Hod in Metula.

Mroue reported from Beirut, Ahmed from Islamabad and Kim from Washington. Abby Sewell in Beirut, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem, and Jamey Keaten in Zurich, Switzerland, contributed to this report.

A previous version of this story corrected the spelling of the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s last name to Baghaei, not Bagahei.

Signs indicating planned US-Iran peace talks are displayed at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Friday June 19, 2026. (Anas Mallick via AP)

In this photo, released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, right, meets Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (Iran's Foreign Ministry, via AP)

Relatives of missed victims weep, as they gather at the site of destroyed buildings that were hit in an Israeli airstrike in Qannarit village, southern Lebanon, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Qannarit village, southern Lebanon, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Buildings damaged by Israeli strikes are seen through shattered glass from the Jabal Amel Hospital in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)