PHOENIX (AP)Diana Taurasi scored 29 points and Cappie Pondexter added 23 to lead the Phoenix Mercury past the Washington Mystics 98-93 Tuesday night for the defending WNBA champions’ first win after four losses to start the season. Alana Beard scored 33 points, including six 3-pointers, and had seven assists, for the Mystics (2-4). She came a point short of the franchise record, Chamique Holdsclaw’s 34 against Indiana on July 24, 2003.
Washington got within 76-72 with 7:55 remaining, rallying from a 15-point deficit, but Phoenix made five of seven free throws over the next three minutes and Taurasi scored 11 fourth-quarter points.
Phoenix ran off 11 straight after the teams were tied at 59 in the third quarter to take control.
Tangela Smith added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Mercury.
The Mystics, a 67 percent free-throw shooting team, missed 14 of 20.
Beard nearly kept Washington in the game by herself, making 12 of 17 shots from the field, 6 of 8 from beyond the arc. She scored the first three points of the fourth quarter and hit a 3-pointer with 8:21 left to cut the advantage to 74-70.
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