DeWanna Bonner carries Phoenix Mercury to a 109-95 win over Atlanta Dream – WNBA Recap
It is a very rare sight that Phoenix Mercury wins a game and Candice Dupree or Diana Taurasi are not among the top scorers for the team. That rarity happened on Thursday night when DeWanna Bonner stood up and erupted with a career-high
25 points and 13 rebounds to marshal Phoenix Mercury to a 109-95 win over Atlanta Dream in a high scoring thriller.
Candice Dupree and Diana Taurasi though were not far behind and finished the night with 22 and 21 points respectively. Dupree also had six boards while Taurasi added five dimes. With this win Phoenix rose to a 13-9 record and also
recorded their second straight win after a tail spin that saw them losing five of six.
Phoenix coach Corey Gaines was very pleased on DeWanna Bonner’s performance.
``She's really coming into her own,'' ``She's a great player, I always knew that even when I first saw her. She's getting better and better.''
Dream were led by Angel McCoughtry. Angel was in her groove on the night and she made sure that Mercury does get off easy by pounding 25 points, five rebounds and three assists. Erika DeSouza also had 17 points and six rebounds
for the Dream, who have lost only thrice in the last ten games and are now standing at 10-12 record this season.
Dream started the game with four straight points, but Mercury responded with a 12-2 spurt to take a 12-6 lead inside the first four minutes. Dupree scored 12 points in the first six minutes of the frame as Mercury raced to a 30-20
at its end. They started the second quarter with a 20-9 run to take 50-29 lead with four and a half minutes to go in the break, but keyed by McCoughtry’s 14 points, Dream raced off to a 17-5 run to end the first half down by 59-48.
The second half was an evenly fought affair. The teams finished the third quarter at 28 points each and Phoenix hung tough in the fourth and took it 22-19 to finish the game at 109-95.
``I thought we really fought hard,'' Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors said after the game. ``Phoenix is playing well right now and they have a lot of offensive weapons.''
Phoenix were excellent from the field on the night. They shot at nearly 51 percent and nailed 27 of 28 free throws as compared to 24 of 32 by Dream. Mercury out-rebounded the Dream 40-35 and never let them ahead after the first
three minutes of the game.
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