Indiana Fever, Phoenix Mercury and Atlanta Dream win - WNBA Roundup August 16, 2011: Part 2
Indiana Fever 65 – San Antonio Silver Stars 63
On Tuesday at AT&T Center, night at Tamika Catchings tallied a game-high 26 points to lift Indiana Fever past the Los Angeles Sparks 65-63 for their third straight victory. It was Silver Stars’ second consecutive defeat.
Catchings also had five rebounds, three steals and three blocks in the victory. Jia Perkins led San Antonio with 10 points, four rebounds and two steals. Danielle Robinson and Scholanda Robinson also scored 10 points apiece while
Sophia Young grabbed 13 rebounds in the loss.
Catchings scored 14 of her points in the first half as Indiana held a ten-point lead, 43-33, at halftime. The Silver Stars limited visiting team to just seven points in the third quarter and converted their first half deficit into
a 54-50 lead. The game was tied at 58 with 05:08 to go in the fourth quarter before Catchings pinned three consecutive free throws to put Fever ahead by 61-58. Indiana did not trail for the rest of the period.
Phoenix Mercury 81 – Seattle Storm 79
Diana Taurasi made a driving shot with 6.3 seconds to go as Phoenix Mercury snapped their nine-game losing streak against Seattle Storm with a hard-fought 81-79 victory at US Airways Center.
Taurasi finished with a game-high 24 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Forwards Penny Taylor and Candice Dupree added 16 points and two steals apiece for Mercury, who are second in the Western Conference with
a 14-10 record. Nakia Sanford also had 10 points in the victory.
Sue Bird led Seattle with 23 points, shooting 9 for 16 from the floor, and eight assists. Katie Smith and Camille Little added 16 points and four rebounds each in Storm’s second consecutive defeat. Lecoe Willingham posted 15 points
while Swin Cash pulled down 15 rebounds for Seattle.
Seattle headed the first two quarters of the game and held a 43-28 lead at intermission. Phoenix however outscored the visiting team 22-16 in the third period, cutting their deficit to nine, heading into the fourth.
Mercury made a terrific comeback in the last quarter and tied the game at 77 before Little drove to the rim to put Seattle ahead by 79-77. However, DeWanna Bonner responded with a lay-up to knot the game at 79 and Taurasi then
picked off an erratic pass by Bird and drove to the rim for a layup to seal a 81-79 win for Mercury.
Atlanta Dream 84 – Los Angeles Sparks 79
At Staples Centre, Angel McCoughtry racked up 23 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals as Atlanta Dream beat Los Angeles Sparks 84-79 for their second consecutive win.
Erika de Souza added 18 points and 13 rebounds while Lindsey Harding scored 12 points in the victory. Armintie Price contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while Sancho punctuated 10 points for Atlanta.
DeLisha Milton led Sparks with 19 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Candace Parker returned to floor after missing 15 games with a torn lateral meniscus in her right knee and ended with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Natasha Lacy
totalled 11 points and Tina Thompson had 10 points in the loss.
Los Angeles carried a 39-37 lead into the locker room but Los Angeles limited them to just 17 points in the third quarter and went ahead by 60-56.
In a tightly contested fourth quarter, Sparks’ Lacy hit a three pointer with 01:02 remaining and tied the game at 79. However, Atlanta scored five consecutive points down the stretch to seal the victory.
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