Phoenix Mercury 43 vs. Seattle Storm 40 - WNBA Game Halftime Analysis
Diana Taurasi scored 13 points on 5 for 9 shooting from the field as Phoenix Mercury led Seattle Storm 43-40 at halftime on Tuesday night at US Airways Center. The 29-year-old player also contributed three steals and two assists.
Penny Taylor scored seven points while Candice Dupree had six points and two assists for Mercury. DeWanna Bonner also came off the bench with six points, five boards and three blocks.
Sue Bird led the Storm with 10 points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds. Bird shot 4 for 9 from the floor, including 2 for 4 from three-point range. Ashley Robinson, Camille Little and Swin Cash punctuated six points
each in the first half of the game. Cash also grabbed six rebounds for Seattle. Seattle shot 45.9 percent (17 for 37) from the field while Phoenix shot 44.1 percent (15 for 34).
First Quarter
Both teams could not score in the first minute of the opening period. Taylor however hit a three-pointer to give Phoenix a 3-0 lead and break the jinx. Robinson and Little combined for three consecutive lay-ups though, as Seattle
went ahead by 6-3. Dupree then scored a lay-up to cut the deficit to one, but Bird responded with a shot from down town to make it 9-5. Mercury scored the next six points of the first quarter and carried an 11-9 lead midway through the quarter. Bird’s jumper
on the next possession tied the game at 11.
With 03:49 to go in the first, Phoenix broke through and reeled off a 16-7 run to snatch a 27-18 lead, going into the second.
Second Quarter
Seattle turned it on in the second quarter and opened it on an 11-2 run to knot the game at 29-29. However, Phoenix answered with six unanswered points to carry a 35-29 advantage midway.
Seattle fought back again though and Cash’s lay-up with 01:56 remaining in the first half made it a three-point contest, 41-38. However, Bonner countered with a pair of free throw to stretch Mercury’s lead to five points which
was reduced to three when Tanisha Wright scored a lay-up in the closing seconds.
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