Taurasi scores 20 points, adds 7 assists to lead Mercury to 77-56 victory over Shock
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Diana Taurasi had 20 points and seven assists to lead the Phoenix Mercury to their second straight win over the Tulsa Shock, a 77-56 victory Sunday night.
Tulsa missed 15 straight shots, getting shut out over a 10-minute stretch of the first half, while Phoenix scored 21 points in a row to take control in the second quarter.
Candice Dupree had 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Mercury (12-11), who beat the Shock on Friday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Liz Cambage had 19 points and six rebounds for Tulsa (7-17), which has lost four of its last five games.
Phoenix set a league mark with 12 blocked shots in the first half and held Tulsa to a franchise-low four points in the second quarter.
Taurasi, the WNBA's leading scorer, became the sixth player in league history to score 6,000 points in her career, doing so in 291 games, the fastest ever.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rookie Skylar Diggins added 19 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Shock.
DeWanna Bonner scored 21 points for Phoenix, while rookie Brittney Griner finished with nine points, five rebounds and six blocks, tying a franchise mark for blocked shots in a game, before fouling out with 2:02 left.
Tulsa took a 12-10 lead with 3:53 left in the first quarter before Phoenix ran off the final eight points of the period. Griner had five blocks over eight minutes during the quarter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Mercury then ran off 11 points in the second quarter to take a 31-12 lead with 3:49 remaining until halftime. Tulsa could only manage short shots by Cambage and Courtney Paris in the period and trailed 40-16 at the break.
The four second-quarter points were the least scored in a quarter in Shock history and the fewest given up by Mercury in franchise history. It tied the league mark for the second fewest in a quarter.
The Mercury held off the Shock 70-67 Friday in the debut of interim Mercury coach Russ Pennell.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pennell took over Thursday after the Mercury fired coach and general manager Corey Gaines following a five-year run that included the 2009 WNBA title.