Candice Dupree, Diana Taurasi lead as Phoenix Mercury top Washington Mystics 86-79 – WNBA Recap
On Sunday night, Candice Dupree scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Phoenix Mercury eased past Washington Mystics 86-79 at Verizon Center.
It was eighth consecutive loss for the Mystics - matching the third-longest streak in franchise history. The victory snapped two-game losing streak for Mercury, who are now just one game behind Seattle Strom for the second position
in the Western Conference.
Dupree, who is averaging 14.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in this season, ended the game on 10 for 14 shooting from the field and 7 for 7 from free throw line. Diana Taurasi added 21 points, dished out seven assists and grabbed
four rebounds in the victory.
Crystal Langhorne recorded her fifth double-double of the season and first since July 20 with 27 points on 12 for 24 shooting from the field and a game-high 12 rebounds. Matee Ajavon had 15 points, five assists, three rebounds
and two steals. Jasmine Thomas came off the bench with 14 points and three rebounds.
Phoenix, which leads the league in scoring and assists, shot 48.4 percent (31 for 64) from the field and 94.7 percent (18 for 19) from free throw line. Washington, on the other hand, ended with only 42.9 percent (33 for 77) from
the floor and 45 percent (9 for 20) from the line.
Mercury entered the court with a great spirit to halt their losing streak and outscored the Mystics 28-17 in the very first quarter of the game.
Washington fought hard in the second quarter and held Phoenix to only 15 points. However, Mercury still managed to carry a 43-34 lead into the locker room.
Mercury scored the first 13 points of the third quarter and stretched their lead to 22 points, 56-34. Mystics then outplayed Phoenix 21-13 for rest of the quarter and trimmed their deficit to 14, 69-55. Mercury maintained their
lead throughout the fourth quarter and sealed their 16th victory of the season.
All-Star forward Langhorne acknowledged the great performance of the opponents and said, "Phoenix is a great team, especially offensively so you have to play well offensively with them," "It's frustrating, but we have a great group
of girls and we're going to keep trying to win."
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