Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks win: WNBA Roundup June 19, 2011- Part 2
Phoenix Mercury 93- Indiana Fever 89
On Sunday night, Indiana Fever failed to sustain a late outburst by Phoenix Mercury, who romped to a 93-89 win in overtime and registered their first victory of the current season. The extravaganza which took place at the US Airways
Center saw Mercury outscore Indiana 25-18 in the final period.
Led by Diana Taurasi, who scored a game high 32 points and five rebounds, three Phoenix players scored in double figures. Candice Dupree matched a season-high 21 points and grabbed 18 rebounds while Marie Ferdinand-Harris came
off the bench to contribute 17 points and finished on a 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Phoenix shot on 38.4 percent from the field.
Jessica Davenport added a team high 20 points and nine rebounds in the loss before she went out due to foul trouble in the O.T. Tamika Catchings had 17 points and 15 rebounds while Jeanette Pohlen also scored 17 points. Pohlen,
the 22 year-old guard, was terrific from three-point range, pinning 5-for-5 in the first half.
Fever were dominating the Mercury by the end of third quarter, 64-57; however, Phoenix overcame that deficit by playing better defence in the fourth quarter of the game.
Indiana couldn’t handle the pressure in the clutch as Mercury successfully tied the game at 74-74 midway through the final frame and then took an 82-80 lead with nine seconds to go in the fourth. However, Davenport’s lay-up in
the closing seconds tied the game at 82, sending it into extra time.
In overtime, Indiana came out strong and held an 87-82 lead early in the piece. However, Mercury scored the next five points to tie-up the contest at 87. A lay-up by Briann January put the Fever ahead by two again but Phoenix maintained
its up-tempo game and went on a 6-0 run down the stretch for a commendable win over the Indiana squad.
Los Angeles Sparks 74 - Seattle Storm 50
The Los Angeles Sparks headed all four quarters of the game at the Staples Center and cruised past the defending champion Seattle Storm 74-50. In doing so, the Sparks also snapped their seven-game losing streak to Seattle.
Ebony Hoffman led Los Angeles with 12 points and four rebounds while Kristi Toliver scored 11 points, shooting 4-for-9 from the field, and grabbed five assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Candace Parker and centre Jantel Lavender
chipped in with 10 points each.
Sue Bird scored a game-high 15 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the field, and grabbed five rebounds in the loss.
Los Angeles outplayed the visiting team 14-8 in the first quarter and pushed their lead to 39-25 at the end of first half. Leading by 14 points at halftime, Sparks started brightly in the second half. They limited Seattle to only
25 points in the half and never let them get closer than nine points to walk away with their third victory of this season.
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