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WNBA Phoenix Mercury

Seattle Squeaks Past Phoenix 91-85

by Andrew Nordmeier
July 26, 2006 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Phoenix Mercury


Women have battled a proverbial "glass ceiling" in the workplace and the Phoenix Mercury is no different. Their workplace is the basketball court and the glass ceiling is the .500 mark. Sue Bird scored 25 points and Betty Lennox added 19 as he Seattle Storm solidified its hold on the fourth and final playoff spot with a 91-85 win Tuesday night at the US Airways Center. Phoenix fell to 11-13 and failed on its third try to hit the break-even point; Seattle sits at 14-12, two games ahead of Phoenix.

Losing the game was bad enough but the Mercury may have lost the services of Penny Taylor as well. Taylor went down with 4:46 left and was carried off the court with a right shin injury. Post-game examinations revealed no broken bones but the team is taking a wait-and-see approach with her according to Phoenix General Manager Seth Sulka.

"Penny (Taylor) going down sucked," Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi said, "You know Kamila Vodichkova was out and Penny was picking up the slack, We don't know how serious the injury is or what it really is. We're knocking on wood that it's nothing too major."

The game had a playoff atmosphere to it. It was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than nine points at any juncture and the game was tied 13 times. The teams battled back and forth but Seattle finally pulled away in the fourth quarter after Taylor went down hurt.

If Taylor is out for any length of time Sandora Irvin may be an option to pick up some playing time. Irvin was recently cleared to practice in the last couple days after being sidelined for a couple weeks with a back injury. There was also mention of Taurasi moving into the small forward position and that would shake up the Mercury lineup if need be.

Taurasi led all scorers with 27 for Phoenix while Taylor added 22 before getting injured. Cappie Pondexter, hobbled by soreness in her knees, added 16 in the losing effort. Seattle forward Lauren Jackson was held to 16 points, 14 fewer than her 30-point per game average against Phoenix this season in three prior meetings.

"We knew it would be a battle between us, Phoenix and San Antonio for the fourth spot in the playoffs," Bird said, "We just wanted to do our best to take control our own destiny."

Phoenix heads off on the Texas Two-Step as they head to Houston and San Antonio Thursday and Friday before returning home to battle the Comets Sunday afternoon at 4pm.

"I said to our girls ‘You couldn't have played any harder tonight'," Mercury Head Coach Paul Westhead said, " ‘You played about as hard and as well as you could'."

Notes: Phoenix won the battle in the paint by a 36-22 margin...The Mercury scored 25 points on the fast break; Seattle cleaned up in second chance points with 20...Bird set a season high with her 25 points, besting the 19 she scored against Charlotte July 20th...Phoenix was stymied in its effort to get its first three-game winning streak of the season; Seattle's win gave them a three-game run...Taurasi fouled out for the first time this season...Seattle won the season series 3-1...Attendance was 7,164.

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