Diana Taurasi drives Phoenix Mercury to a 81-79 victory over Seattle Storm – WNBA Recap
Diana Taurasi scored a game-high 24 points, but most importantly slipped in a game-winning driving layup with 6.3 seconds left on the clock, as Phoenix Mercury defeated the Seattle Storm 81-79 on Tuesday night at US Airways Center. The victory snapped Phoenix's nine-game losing streak to Seattle, who lost their second game in a row.
With 30 seconds left in the game and Mercury trailing by two points, it appeared that the home team will fail to get the better of close game yet again. However, Bonner made a layup to tie the matter and with the clock running down, Taurasi intercepted a loose pass by Sue Bird and drilled in two to salvage a win.
Phoenix’s forwards Penny Taylor and Candice Dupree added 16 points and two steals each in the victory. Nakia Sanford had 10 points on a 5 for 7 shooting from the field and also grabbed five rebounds for Mercury, who are now second in the Western Conference with a 14-10 record.
Bird led San Antonio with 23 points and eight assists in more than 37 minutes. The player shot 9 for 16 from the floor and 4 for 4 from free throw line. Katie Smith and Camille Little also chipped in with 16 points and four rebounds apiece in the loss. Lecoe Willingham came off the bench with 15 points and five rebounds while Swin Cash grabbed a game best 15 rebounds for Phoenix.
Seattle shot 52.6 percent (30 for 57) from the field, including 46.7 percent (7 for 15) from the three-point range, and 80 percent (12 for 15) from free throw line. Mercury shot 44.8 percent (30 for 67) from the floor, including 28.6 percent (4 for 14) from beyond the arc, and 94.4 percent (17 for 18) from the line.
Seattle committed 17 turnovers as compared to just nine by Phoenix. Storm dominated Mercury on the glass and grabbed 33 rebounds as compared to 23 that Phoenix pulled down. However, Mercury outscored the visiting team 14-7 on fast break points.
Bird scored 17 of her points in the first half as Seattle carried a 43-28 lead into the second. Phoenix made a terrific comeback in the third quarter and limited Storm to 16 points, cutting their deficit to nine points, 59-50.
In a closely contest last quarter, Seattle managed to carry a 79-77 lead with 01:29 to go in the game. However Bonner slipped in a layup and Taurasi then made a game winning layup to carve out a two point win.
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