Phoenix pulls away from Storm in for 101-90 OT win

Once a place of dominance, KeyArena is slowly becoming a court the Storm scrambles to defend.

For the third consecutive home game, Seattle forced overtime. Only instead of scraping for another win, it quickly rushed out of its own building behind Phoenix's convincing 101-90 win in overtime Tuesday night.

The Storm couldn't defend in extra play as the Mercury opened on a 7-0 run.

"They punched us right in the face," Storm guard Sue Bird said.

Bird pushed the game into overtime for the second consecutive game, making another awkward three-pointer to tie the score at 84 with 5.6 seconds remaining in regulation. Seattle trailed 81-75 with 1:27 remaining. But three-pointers by Bird and forward Camille Little, with 44.7 seconds left, gave the Storm new life.

Seattle won in triple overtime against Los Angeles on July 22 and in overtime against San Antonio on Saturday.

"I'd rather not get to that point," Bird said of her heroics. "It's one thing to be excited about winning overtime games. It shows your character ... But at some point we need to be looking in the mirror and be realizing we need to not get to those points. This is our home floor and we need to defend it and we haven't really done a good job of that."

No, but not many can defend Phoenix, leaders of the Western Conference.

The Mercury (16-7) already features two of the WNBA's top three scorers. Then in July it re-signed forward Penny Taylor, who had reconstructive right ankle surgery in May. She made her 2009 debut Saturday and saw extended minutes in overtime Tuesday.

With the Storm's defense already honed in on potent guards Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter, Taylor went off for a team-high seven points in overtime. Center Tangela Smith scored six with three rebounds.

"The doctor said I couldn't play her, but I kind of didn't listen," said Phoenix coach Corey Gaines of Taylor, who scored 14 of her final 18 points after halftime. "He said only three minutes at a time, but we just threw that out the window. She said she was fine."

"I want to act shocked, surprised, but that's Penny. When she gets going she's tough to stop," Taurasi said. "She still has some time yet to get her timing down and strength back but games like this can only help."

The luxury of depth is something Storm coach Brian Agler is still searching for on his roster. While the Storm says its roster should be able to play hefty minutes, the Mercury received quality play from nine players.

Agler only used eight because center Suzy Batkovic-Brown (illness) and rookie Ashley Walker (injury) are out. But Agler barely played forward Katie Gearlds (three minutes) and center Janell Burse (seven minutes), keeping each starter in the game at least 40 minutes.

Probably not a problem if Tuesday was the first overtime game of the season. But it was the third. In the past two weeks.

"We're going to have to get more out of our bench," said Agler. "It starts with time, and I control that. Productivity starts with a combination of everybody working together. Then you have to play against matchups."

Seattle (12-8) plays in Los Angeles (6-10) on Thursday.

"We had a great opportunity," said guard Tanisha Wright, who finished with a career-high 25 points and seven assists. "That's why it's disappointing. We need to start playing better basketball."

Batkovic-Brown out

Storm coach Brian Agler intentionally didn't play Storm center Suzy Batkovic-Brown due to her suffering from a severe sinus infection. Batkovic-Brown felt the severity of the symptoms after Saturday's win at KeyArena and was bed-ridden the following two days.

"It knocked the wind out of me," she said of the illness.

Taylor returns

Seems unfair for a top team to get even stronger, but Phoenix did just that. The Mercury re-signed 2007 WNBA Finals MVP Taylor, who had reconstructive ankle surgery in May. Taylor played her first game on Saturday and saw 19 minutes against Seattle.

"I'm a little bit rusty, I think I threw a ball against the backboard that was supposed to be a pass," Taylor said of the win in Minnesota. "It's been a few months, so I guess I'm where I expected to be."

Seattle Times president honored

Seattle Times president Carolyn Kelly will be one of four 2009 Women of Inspiration honorees to be awarded by the Storm on Aug. 22. Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie, and Southern Sudanese Women's Association co-founders Harriet Dumba and Agnes Oswaha are the others.

Tuesday's box

PHOENIX		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Pondexter	35:28	6-19	4-4	3-8	5	3	16
Willingham	22:33	2-6	0-0	2-6	1	4	4
TSmith	32:01	5-12	0-0	1-8	0	4	14
Taurasi	36:15	4-11	9-11	2-6	2	3	19
TJohnson	30:36	6-12	0-0	0-3	7	4	15
Bonner	23:54	2-7	3-4	2-4	0	3	7
Swanier	13:29	2-2	0-0	1-3	2	0	5
Taylor	19:19	6-9	4-4	2-2	4	4	18
Mazzante	9:06	1-4	0-0	0-0	0	2	3
BSmith	2:19	0-0	0-0	1-1	0	0	0
Totals		34-82	20-23	14-41	21	27	101

Percentages: FG .415, FT .870. Three-point goals: 13-29, .448 (T.Smith 4-6, T.Johnson 3-5, Taylor 2-3, Taurasi 2-5, Swanier 1-1, Mazzante 1-4, Bonner 0-1, Pondexter 0-4). Team rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: 16 (14 PTS). Blocked shots: 4 (Mazzante, Pondexter, T.Smith, Taurasi). Turnovers: 15 (Willingham 5, Pondexter 4, Taylor 3, Taurasi 2, Bonner). Steals: 7 (Bonner 2, Swanier 2, Taylor 2, T.Smith). Technical fouls: None.

SEATTLE		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Cash	40:04	4-16	4-4	2-11	2	4	12
Jackson	40:20	4-13	10-10	5-11	2	2	18
Little	42:31	9-13	1-4	1-4	0	2	20
Bird	40:04	5-13	1-1	0-4	5	2	13
Wright	40:46	8-15	8-10	2-5	7	5	25
SJohnson	11:03	0-2	0-0	0-0	1	3	0
Burse	7:09	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	2
Gearlds	3:03	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Totals		31-75	24-29	10-36	17	19	90

Percentages: FG .413, FT .828. Three-point goals: 4-11, .364 (Bird 2-7, Little 1-1, Wright 1-1, Jackson 0-1, S.Johnson 0-1). Team rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 15 (20 PTS). Blocked shots: 4 (Jackson 3, Cash). Turnovers: 15 (Bird 4, Cash 4, Wright 3, Burse 2, Little 2). Steals: 9 (Little 3, Wright 2, Bird, Burse, Cash, S.Johnson). Technical fouls: Jackson, 1:32 first.

Phoenix	23 22 19 20 17 — 101
Seattle	23 20 16 25 6 — 90

Attendance: 6,728 (17,098). Time: 2:11. Officials: Roy Gulbeyan, Ginter Felicia, Scott Twardoski.