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Mercury holds off Fever down stretch

Jul 30, 2007 - 1:38 AM By Al Bravo PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHOENIX (Ticker) - It didn't look like a game between the two top-shooting teams in the WNBA.

The Phoenix Mercury, however, made a couple of shots when they needed and also hit key free throws down the stretch for an 80-75 victory over the Indiana Fever on Sunday.

Tangela Smith had 18 and 12 rebounds to lead the Mercury (16-10) to their fourth straight win, but it was the late stretch that sent the Fever (16-10) to their sixth loss in a row.

Diana Taurasi hit a pull-up jumper from beyond the 3-point arc to put the Mercury in the lead for good and then hit another shot to make it a four-point lead with 1:21 remaining.

Cappie Pondexter scored 21 points and Taurasi added 16 and eight rebounds for the Mercury.

Indiana's Tan White hit five 3-pointers and led all scorers with 25 points. Indiana was without leading scorer and rebounder Tamika Catchings, who missed her fifth game with a partially torn plantar fascia in her left foot.

Tammy Sutton-Brown added 14 points and nine rebounds for Indiana, which hasn't won since June 18 and fell four games behind first-place Detroit in the WNBA's Eastern Conference.

Phoenix temporarily moved to within a half-game of Western Conference leader San Antonio.

The teams combined to make just 35.2 percent of their shots. Phoenix had averaged 102.3 points in its previous three games and 88 per game for the season.

The two teams combined to shoot 31 percent from the field in the first half as the Fever took a 34-32 lead.