Phoenix Mercury beat Los Angeles Sparks 93-77; Clinch the playoff spot – WNBA Recap
On Saturday night, Candice Dupree erupted with 22 points and grabbed a franchise-best 19 rebounds as Phoenix Mercury clinched a playoff spot with a 93-77 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Sparks at the US Airways Center. It
was Phoenix’s third victory in their previous four games. They are now half-game behind second-placed Seattle Storm in the Western Conference with one week to go in the playoffs.
Dupree finished the game on 9 for 13 shooting from the field and 4 for 4 from free throw line. Diana Taurasi also tallied a team-high 24 points for Phoenix, pinning 4 of 7 three-pointers. She praised the brilliant performance of
her Dupree after the game,
“She controlled the game today on both ends which is hard to do sometimes being a post player, she's just unbelievable. Every game she plays she plays pretty well. I am sure it is fun for the fans to watch. It was fun for us to
watch. That was probably one of the best games of the year for her.”
Phoenix’s forward Penny Taylor had 14 points on 6 for 10 shooting from the floor while DeWanna Bonner pulled down 12 rebounds in the victory.
Candace Parker led Los Angeles with a season-high 32 points, shooting 13 for 25 from the field. Kristi Toliver added 23 points and four assists in the loss while DeLisha Milton had 13 points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles,
which has lost three of their previous four games.
Mercury shot 48.1 percent (37 for 77) from the field and 100 percent (12 for 12) from free throw line. Sparks shot only 38.4 percent (28 for 73) from the floor and 77.8 percent (14 for 18) from the line. Phoenix outscored the visiting
team 22-9 on fast break points and 48-30 in points in the paint. In addition to that, Mercury grabbed 46 rebounds as compared to just 27 by the Sparks.
Mercury missed 10 of their first 12 shots of the game as Los Angeles held a ten-point lead, 12-2, with 06:44 to go in the quarter. In the period that followed however, they went on a 16-5 run to go ahead by 18-17. Mercury maintained
the one point advantage and finished the frame at 22-21.
They carried the momentum in the second and limited Sparks to 19 points, crafting a 48-40 lead at halftime. Phoenix turned on the heat further in the third quarter and stretched their lead to 12 points, 69-57, with 02:24 to go
in the quarter.
Los Angeles however bounced back and rattled Phoenix with seven unanswered points to trim their deficit to five, 69-64. A Ferdinand-Harris three with five ticks remaining ended the spurt though and gave Indiana a 72-64 lead heading
into the final quarter.
Trailing by eight points after three, Sparks did not get any closer than five points in the entire fourth quarter.
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