Diana Taurasi leads as Phoenix Mercury snap Minnesota Lynx's win streak; Win by 85-80 – WNBA Recap
Diana Taurasi scored a team high 26 points, including a key steal in the final 20 seconds, as Phoenix Mercury snapped Minnesota Lynx’s franchise-best nine-game winning streak with an 85-80 victory on Tuesday night at US Airways
Center. Lynx are still heading the league with a 16-5 record though while Mercury are third in the Western Conference.
Five Mercury players scored in double figures on the night. Taurasi who also grabbed six rebounds ended with a 8 for 14 shooting from the field and was 8 for 9 from free throw line. Penny Taylor added 13 points and six rebounds
while Candice Dupree recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds and 12 points for Mercury. Dupree also blocked a game best four shots.
DeWanna Bonner came off the bench with 11 points, including two free throws with 36 seconds remaining to put Phoenix ahead by one, and pulled down four rebounds in the victory. Temeka Johnson also tallied 11 points, dished out
five assists and stole the ball three times.
Minnesota’s rookie Maya Moore topped all the scorers with 28 points. Moore hit 8 for 12 from the field, pinning 6 of 6 three-pointers, and 6 for 8 form free throw line. Seimone Augustus punctuated 26 points, shooting 11 for 18
from the floor and grabbed four rebounds in the loss while Lindsay Whalen ended with 15 points and six assists for Lynx.
The shooting of Minnesota was better than Mercury. Lynx shot 42.6 percent (29 for 68) from the field, 60 percent (12 for 20) from three-point range and 76.9 percent (10-13) from free throw line. Phoenix on the other hand shot just
40.9 percent (27 for 66) from the floor, 42.9 percent (9 for 21) from down town and 75.9 percent (22 for 29) from the line.
Bonner and Taylor hit consecutive three-pointers with 02:20 to go in the first quarter as Phoenix carried a 26-21 lead into the second. Minnesota limited Mercury to 22 points in the second quarter and tied the game at 48 at halftime.
The game remained close in the third quarter and Lynx barely held on to a 64-62 lead when it closed.
The deadlock ensued in the last frame and with 48 seconds to go, the score got tied at 77. Phoenix made their move in the clutch and reeled off an 8-3 spurt to seal the victory.
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