It was the third straight victory for Connecticut, which rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to win for the seventh time in its last eight home games.
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Mercury-Sun: Play |
Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 17 of her season-high 21 points after the break and hauled in 12 rebounds. Asjha Jones collected season highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench while All-Star Lindsay Whalen chipped in 13 points for the Sun (14-5), who moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Detroit Shock (12-6) in the Eastern Conference.
Connecticut entered halftime trailing, 46-29, but battled back to within 65-60 at the end of the third quarter.
Despite shooting just 7-of-18 (39 percent) from the floor in the final session, the Sun converted several key free throws down the stretch. Douglas made a pair from the line with 1:37 remaining to give Connecticut the lead for good at 76-75. Whalen hit a running layup 45 seconds later to push the cushion to three.
Connecticut managed the victory despite playing without All-Star forward Nykesha Sales, who was sidelined with a sore Achilles tendon. The contest marked the end of Sales' streak of 248 consecutive games played, the second-longest streak in league history.
Former University of Connecticut star Diana Taurasi, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2004, scored 25 points for the Mercury, who have lost three of their last four.
Next Games: Phoenix plays at New York on Sunday, while Connecticut plays at Sacramento on Saturday.
