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Mercury rally to beat Storm

Jul 2, 2009 - 4:19 AM PHOENIX(AP) -- Cappie Pondexter had 22 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Diana Taurasi added 22 points and blocked four shots to help the Phoenix Mercury beat the Seattle Storm 93-81 on Wednesday night.

The Mercury scored the first 11 points of the second half after trailing 50-47 at the break and then held off a late Seattle charge with an 11-point run in the fourth quarter to avenge a loss to the Storm 10 days ago.

Le'Coe Willingham scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half, including six during the early third-quarter spurt for the Mercury (7-4).

Swin Cash had 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead Seattle (6-4). Lauren Jackson added 17 points and six rebounds.

Seattle missed 14 of its first 17 shots in the second half after leading much of the first 20 minutes.

The Storm trailed by 11 going into the final period, but scored the first eight points of the quarter and Jackson's three-point play with 6:46 left cut it to 76-74.

However, Tangela Smith hit a 19-footer to start the final Phoenix run, aided by points off Jackson's technical foul with 5:22 left and the Mercury led 90-76 with 3:54 remaining after Smith's 3-pointer.