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Smith, Taylor power Mercury past Lynx

Jul 23, 2007 - 1:17 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Tangela Smith stepped outside to send the Minnesota Lynx to their ninth straight loss.

Smith scored a a season-high 24 points to lead the Phoenix Mercury to a 106-93 victory over the Lynx at the U.S. Airways Center on Sunday.

A 21-percent 3-point shooter, Smith made 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to help the Mercury roll to their second win in three outings. Phoenix led by as much as 22 points before holding off Minnesota.

The Mercury (13-10) moved into a tie for second with Sacramento for second-place in the Western Conference, 2 1/2 games behind San Antonio.

Seimone Augustus had 23 points and Nicole Ohlde added 17 for Minnesota (5-19), which pulled within seven points with 4:12 left but got no closer.

Penny Taylor added 28 points - 19 in the second half - and nine rebounds for the Mercury.

Augustus had 14 points in the first half, making her first four shots to help Minnesota take an 18-11 lead in the first five minutes. But the Lynx went cold and committed 12 second-quarter turnovers.

Phoenix scored the last 10 points of the period to take a 53-38 halftime lead.

The Lynx had reason for hope against the Mercury, who have lost three times to teams entering the contest having lost at least seven in a row, including Minnesota, which had lost its first seven games before beating Phoenix on June 5.