Diana Taurasi leads Phoenix Mercury past slumping Tulsa Shock, 86-78 - WNBA Recap
Diana Taurasi ended with a team-high 17 points as Phoenix Mercury beat the already slumping Tulsa Shock 86-78 on Friday night. It was the fifth straight defeat for Tulsa and they have now dropped to 1-10 record in the season. On
the other hand, it was Phoenix’s third consecutive victory of this season.
Taurasi also dished out three assists and pinned 6 of 7 free throws.
Penny Taylor pounded 16 points, dished out seven assists, grabbed five rebounds and stole the ball two times. Taylor, who is averaging 16.1 points, 5.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game this season, shot 7 for 11 from the field.
Kara Braxton scored 11 points while DeWanna Bonner recorded a double-double with 10 points and a game best 13 rebounds for Mercury, who have won six of their previous seven games.
Four players from Tulsa also scored in double figures. Liz Cambage came off the bench to lead Tulsa’s squad with a game-high 19 points, five rebounds and two steals. The 19-year-old centre went 6 for 12 from the field and 7 for
8 from free throw line.
Tiffany Jackson had 15 points and four rebounds while Kayla Pedersen contributed 13 points and nine rebounds in the loss. Kayla Pedersen also ended with 10 points for Tulsa. Phoenix shot 31 for 66 (47 percent) from the field and
21 for 23 (91.3 percent) from free throw line, limiting the hosts to just 26 for 74 (35.1 percent) from the floor and 3 for 27 (11.1 percent) from three-point range.
Mercury controlled the game early in the first quarter and managed to take a seven-point lead, 23-16, with 03:36 to go in the opening period. However, the momentum flipped in the last two and half minutes of the quarter Tulsa scored
six unanswered points to cut the deficit to just one, 23-22, heading into the second.
The visiting team turned it on in the second quarter and outscored Tulsa 23-17, stretching their lead to 46-39 at halftime. Phoenix widened their lead to 16 points, 55-39, early in the third quarter before the Shock cut their lead
to 12 points with 03:52 to go in the third. However, Mercury went on a 12-8 stretch in the passage that followed to maintain a 76-60 lead at the end of third.
Tulsa fought hard in the fourth quarter and trimmed the margin to seven, 82-75, with two minutes to go, but Dupree drove to make the score an unattainable one for Tulsa.
For Tulsa, victories are already not coming this season and now there will be no more "40 Minutes of h**l" for the league-worst team, after their head coach and general manager Nolan Richardson resigned at the time when they are
riding a five game losing streak.
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