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Wednesday, Jun. 7 10:00pm ET
Mercury bounces back, beats Storm | |||||
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PHOENIX (AP) -- One taste of defeat was enough for Brandy Reed. The Phoenix forward scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half as the Phoenix Mercury bounced back from a 76-61 loss at Utah by beating the Seattle Storm 82-49 Wednesday night. "I think yesterday and last night was definitely on our minds," Reed said. "We really wanted to redeem ourselves, and we were able to do that." Reed, who set the franchise record for a regulation game with 32 points against Houston on Saturday, saw little action after Phoenix took a 44-32 halftime lead against expansion Seattle (0-4). Bridget Pettis had 15 points and Michelle Griffiths 14 for the Mercury (3-1), which held a team under 50 points for the second time this season. "We were focused on defense," Pettis said. "We talked about that all during training camp -- playing good defense -- and we did that tonight." Kamila Vodichkova had 12 points for the Storm, and Simone Edwards had 11 points and eight rebounds, but they couldn't prevent the worst loss in the franchise's short history -- one that tied a Phoenix record for victory margin. Houston beat the Storm 77-47 on June 1. "We made some silly turnovers that definitely hurt us," Edwards said. "We didn't get back into transition. They have a good team, but they are not 30 points better than us." The Mercury have led by at least 10 points in each victory and got there with 7:42 left in the first half when Pettis took a defensive rebound into the frontcourt and pulled up for a 16-foot jumper that made it 25-15. It was part of a 16-7 run which saw the Storm go seven minutes without a basket while Phoenix assumed a 37-22 lead with 2:12 left in the half. Seattle reserve Jamie Redd ended the field-goal drought with a 3-pointer with 1:39 to play, and scored six more points in the final 32 seconds of the half. But Reed had the final word, sinking a spinning layup with 8.9 seconds to play -- her seventh field goal in eight tries. For the game, she went 8-for-11 from the field and 7-for-7 from the line. "I can't really pinpoint any certain area," she said about her explosive first half. "We just had real continuity on both ends of the floor." Tonya Edwards, scoreless in the first half, made a pair of baskets as the Mercury ended any suspense with a 15-4 run early in the second half. Former Phoenix player Edna Campbell, who was left unprotected in the expansion draft, was philosophical about switching teams. "It's been very interesting," she said. "We're still learning and working hard, trying to get things together. But coming in here was great. The fans have always been good to me." | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Cleveland 83 Orlando 79
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