Abysmal Second Quarter Dooms Shock In Phoenix

The Shock lost their third straight and their fourth out of their past five outings on Sunday with a 77-56 blowout loss at Phoenix.

Tulsa trailed by just six after the first quarter but the second was an unmitigated disaster. Tulsa missed its first nine shocks of the second period and didn't score for more than six minutes, finishing the quarter with just two field goals and was outscored 22-4 overall.

The Shock played much better in the second half but, by that time, the damage had already been done.

Reigning Western Conference Player of the Week Liz Cambage and first-round pick Skyler Diggins led Tulsa with 19 points each, but neither received much help from the rest of the roster as no other player scored more than six points.

Cambage was just 3-of-9 from the floor but made up for it on the free-throw line. She connected on 13-of-14 from the stripe and pulled in six rebounds. Diggins was 5-for-12 from the field and hit 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

Former OU star Courtney Paris put in some quality work off the bench with six points and six rebounds in 15 minutes.

The Mercury was paced by a trio of scorers, led by DeWanna Bonner's 21. Candace Dupree and Diana Taurasi each chipped in 20 as the Mercury rose above .500 to 12-11 on the season.

Top-pick and former Baylor superstar Brittney Griner scored nine points to go with five rebounds and six blocks for Phoenix.

The Shock will wrap up its four-game road trip on Friday at Minnesota at 7 p.m.