Mercury-Sky Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Jun 25 2011 12:06AM

The Phoenix Mercury have reversed their poor start. Now, they'd like to get above .500.

The Chicago Sky would like to remain there.

Diana Taurasi and the Mercury look to re-establish their dominance of Sylvia Fowles and the Sky when the teams open their season series Saturday night.

Phoenix (3-3) has won three in a row after dropping its first three games of the season - the club's worst start in three years.

The Mercury, coming off a 92-83 win at Atlanta on Friday, are now on their longest winning streak since a four-game run July 29-Aug. 6. That streak included a 97-96 win over Chicago on Aug. 1, when Taurasi scored 35 points - the most ever allowed by the Sky (4-3) to a single player.

The six-time All-Star guard, who tallied 20 points and eight rebounds Friday, also had 28 points at Chicago on Aug. 10, but Phoenix fell 91-82, the first loss for the Mercury to the Sky in 10 all-time meetings.

Fowles played a major role in the Sky's first win over the Mercury, scoring 24 points while grabbing 14 rebounds. She also matched Taurasi's 35 points in the previous meeting.

The Chicago center leads the WNBA with 21.6 points per game while Taurasi's 19.8 rank third.

Fowles was a big contributor Thursday, scoring 24 points and adding 12 rebounds in a 107-101 double-overtime victory over Connecticut.

Epiphanny Prince has emerged as a strong compliment to Fowles, averaging 17.3 points after scoring 9.8 per game as a rookie last year. The guard was key Thursday, scoring 10 of her season-high 25 in the second overtime. She totaled 30 points off the bench in two matchups with Phoenix last year.

Taurasi is also getting some scoring help from Penny Taylor (17.0 points per game), Candice Dupree (17.0) and Kara Braxton (10.5). The foursome combined for 73 points Friday, while Taylor added 10 rebounds and eight assists, increasing her season average to 6.33 assists per game - third in the league.

"We had a lot of people play well, and that's what we need to win games," Taurasi said. "A lot of people participating, and (Friday) if you go up and down (the stat sheet), I think we did that."

Taylor had 14 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and seven turnovers in the Mercury's most recent visit to Chicago, while Dupree had 13 points.

Taurasi, Taylor lead Mercury over Sky

Posted Jun 25 2011 10:44PM

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) Diana Taurasi scored 23 points and Penny Taylor added 19 as the Phoenix Mercury beat the Chicago Sky 86-78 on Saturday for their fourth straight win.

Candice Dupree had all 13 of her points in the second half, Kara Braxton had nine rebounds and Taylor also had nine rebounds and seven assists for the Mercury (4-3).

Sylvia Fowles, the WNBA's scoring leader, had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Sky (4-4), who have lost three of their last four. Ephiphanny Prince added 16 points.

The Mercury began the third quarter with nine consecutive points, part of a 16-2 run that opened a 53-42 lead. The Sky's first field goal came with 3:43 remaining on Fowles' driving layup.

Phoenix outscored Chicago 25-13 in the quarter to take control.

The Mercury opened their biggest lead at 74-58 on Marie Ferdinand-Harris' fastbreak layup with 5:36 left in regulation. The Sky pulled to 82-75 on a Fowles' driving layup with 25.6 seconds to go.

Chicago led 40-37 at halftime after a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Prince.

Taurasi, the league's No. 3 scorer, had tied the score with a 3 with 2.6 seconds showing and closed the half with 12 points. Fowles also had 12 in the first half for the Sky.

Phoenix shot 49 percent from the field (32 of 65) while Chicago was 40 percent (27 for 67), including just 5 for 18 on 3s. The Mercury outrebounded the Sky 40-29.

• Mercury: --
• Sky: --

• Mercury: --
• Sky: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 10

• Arena: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #44 Felicia Grinter, #37 Matthew Myers
• Attendance: 5547
• Duration: 1:55