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Taylor outshines Jackson as Mercury beat Storm

Jul 18, 2007 - 4:14 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Penny Taylor scored a season-high 32 points and Diana Taurasi added 18 as the Phoenix Mercury posted an 89-79 triumph over the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night.

Taylor, who was played to her second All-Star game on Sunday, collected seven rebounds, six steals and three assists. She is averaging 24.8 points through her last nine games.

The Mercury pulled away in the third quarter behind a commanding 19-4 run capped by Taylor's 3-pointer that made it 64-45 at the 5:20 mark.

Seattle opened the game on fire, hitting 7-of-11 shots to create an early 19-6 advantage with 4:50 remaining in the first quarter.

However, Phoenix responded with an impressive 16-0 surge to take the lead for good, 22-19. Taylor netted nine points during the run.

Kelly Miller and Tangela Smith each scored 10 points for Phoenix, which shot 46 percent (34-of-73) from the field and improved to 9-3 against Western Conference opponents.

League-leading scorer Lauren Jackson had 33 points and 11 rebounds and Betty Lennox scored 22 for Seattle, which has lost three of its last four games.