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WNBA Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix Sinks Lynx 69-65

by Andrew Nordmeier
July 30, 2005 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Phoenix Mercury


Can anything stop the Phoenix Mercury right now? The answer to that question is not the Minnesota Lynx.

Phoenix rallied from 13 points down in the final 12 minutes and escaped the Target Center with a 69-65 win Friday night. The win gives Phoenix (10-12) seven triumphs in its last eight games and puts them one game behind Los Angeles for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Phoenix trailed 53-40 with 12:31 left after Svetlana Abromisova's three-pointer found the mark. She led Minnesota with 20 points on the night. The Mercury rallied with baskets from Anna DeForge, Diana Taurasi and a three-point play from Penny Taylor over the next three minutes to make it a seven-point game.

An Abromisova lay-up with 5:45 left gave the Lynx back its seven-point lead but the resilient Mercury charged back once more. Kamila Vodichkova and Lisa Harrison hit lay-ups and Taurasi fade-away jumper made it a one-point game, 63-62, with 3:08 left.

With 1:49 left, Taurasi's three-point bomb tied the game up at 65-65 and set the stage for an exciting, unpredictable finish. Minnesota missed its final three shots and Abromisova committed a pair of fouls, which put Taylor on the line.

Taylor, an 86.1% free-throw shooter, hit all four of those shots down the stretch to give Phoenix some breathing room. Minnesota missed its last three shots and committed two turnovers in the final 15 seconds. One of them was a shot-clock violation that came with just five seconds left in the game.

Taylor continued to fuel the Mercury's climb in the Western Conference as she led her team with 20. Taurasi finished with 17 and Maria Stepanova added 14 in the win.

Despite Abromisova's strong outing, 10 points from Amber Jacobs and nine each from Nicole Ohlde and Stacey Lovelace-Tolbert, Minnesota couldn't make up for a poor performance from Katie Smith.

Smith, the first women's professional basketball player with 5,000 points in her career, was held to two points on 0-5 shooting from the field in 34 minutes. Credit most of that to DeForge who has stepped defensively as of late. She has risen to the challenge of stopping the league's premier guards.

Minnesota (11-12) started out fast and opened up an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes as the Mercury hit on two of its first eleven shots. Phoenix rallied back over the next seven minutes to cut the gap to four points at 23-19 with 8:11 left in the half. Just as soon as Phoenix got close, Minnesota went on a 14-2 burst to lead by 16 with five minutes left in the opening half and took a 39-33 lead into the break.

The Mercury will try to get within a game of .500 when they head to Detroit to take on the Shock Sunday afternoon at 5pm EST on NBA TV. With a win over the Shock, Phoenix would have four in a row on the road and second four-game winning streak this season.

Notes: The win is the first for Phoenix in its last seven trips to the Target Center...Phoenix didn't lead until Taylor's free throws late in the second half...The win is the tied for the fifth-biggest comeback in Mercury history; Phoenix last overcame a 16-point deficit to win against Portland in 2001. The biggest deficit they closed for a win was 19 against Washington in 1999...Vodichkova's hot shooting came to an end with a 2-of-8 night but she added 10 rebounds...Minnesota won the battle in the paint 32-30. Phoenix is now 3-12 when trailing at halftime and 1-8 on the road.

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