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Mercury-Liberty Preview

Aug 14, 2010 - 4:18 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Phoenix (14-15) at New York (17-11), 7:30 p.m. EDT

Tempers flared amid Cappie Pondexter's return to Phoenix last month, and the New York Liberty star's ejection helped turn a narrow deficit into a blowout loss to her former team.

Things couldn't be going much better for Pondexter and the Liberty these days.

The WNBA's hottest team has shot up the Eastern Conference standings over the past two weeks, and New York can pull within a game of first place by recording a franchise-record eighth straight win Saturday night as the Mercury visit Madison Square Garden.

The Liberty (18-11) had a three-game winning streak snapped July 3 at Phoenix, unraveling in the third quarter after Pondexter was ejected for slapping Mercury guard Penny Taylor. They watched a six-point deficit turn into a 97-82 defeat.

"Sometimes it's just part of the game," Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi said of the incident, which helped her team snap a six-game losing streak. "You get over it and you move on."

While the Mercury (14-16) find themselves in a three-game slide heading into the rematch, the Liberty are riding one of the most impressive runs in team history. Pondexter went 13 for 13 at the free-throw line and scored 31 points in a 90-83 victory Friday at Atlanta, helping New York tie a franchise record with a seventh consecutive win.

"She cooled off a little when I sat her in the second quarter, but then she got hot again and started getting to the free-throw line, which is what we want her to do," coach Anne Donovan said.

The Liberty previously won seven straight from June 10-24, 2001, and June 21-July 5, 1997 - the first seven games in franchise history.

Pondexter, the league's third-leading scorer at 21.1 points per game, has led the way during the streak, but New York is getting help elsewhere. Third-year guard Leilani Mitchell appears to be coming into her own, averaging 12.4 points and shooting 52.9 percent from 3-point range in her past seven games as New York has crept within 1 1/2 games of first-place Indiana.

Mitchell went scoreless, missing all four 3-point attempts, in the loss at Phoenix.

The Mercury are in second place in the watered-down West, but they're hardly playing like a playoff contender. Their last three losses have been by an average of 17.0 points after Friday's 110-90 defeat at Indiana.

Despite the loss, Washington's 61-58 win over Minnesota clinched a playoff spot for Phoenix. Taurasi made sure her team wasn't dwelling on the defeat.

"Now we have to take it to New York," Taurasi said.