Mercury Rises To Beat Monarchs 76-75

Wednesday, May 30th 2007, 7:27 am

By: News On 6

PHOENIX (AP) _ Cappie Pondexter scored 23 points and the Phoenix Mercury rallied from a 17-point deficit without leading scorer Diana Taurasi for nearly 26 minutes in beating the Sacramento Monarchs 76-75 Tuesday.

Taurasi, the WNBA's leading scorer a year ago, was ejected with 4:55 left in the first half after picking up a flagrant foul and two technical fouls within 67 seconds. It was the first time she has been ejected in her four-year WNBA career.

Pondexter hit a bank shot with 3:02 left to break a 71-71 tie and Kelly Miller added three free throws 30 seconds later to give the Mercury a five-point lead. But Rebekkah Brunson and DeMya Walker scored layups to cut the lead to 75-74 with 44.6 seconds remaining.

Walker then drew a charge from Pondexter with 24.4 seconds left, but Brunson missed two shots in the final seconds.

The Mercury ran off 10- and nine-point spurts in the third quarter to erase the first-half deficit. Phoenix trailed 41-24 after Sacramento's Kara Lawson made two of three free throws following the Taurasi fouls. Phoenix cut the lead to 48-38 at the break.

Brunson led Sacramento with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Nicole Powell scored 13 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had four assists for the Monarchs, who were outscored 52-34 after Taurasi's exit.

Pondexter added five rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes for Phoenix, which had missed 18 of its first 24 shots right before Taurasi was tossed.

Silver Stars 82, Comets 71

At Houston, Becky Hammon scored 26 points for San Antonio, forcing Houston to its first ever 0-3 start.

San Antonio (3-1) recovered from a 13-point first quarter deficit by outscoring the Comets 29-9 the rest of the first half. Hammon had 13 points in the first half, including eight points in a 13-0 run to end the half as the Silver Stars took a 35-28 lead.

The Silver Stars increased their lead to 58-44 with 1:42 left in the third quarter on Sophia Young's layup. Houston (0-3) closed within seven points several times in the fourth quarter, but got no closer.

Michelle Snow led the Comets with 20 points and 12 rebounds, her second straight double-double.

Fever 89, Lynx 75

At Minneapolis, Tamika Catchings scored 21 points as Indiana pulled away from Minnesota in the second half. It's the Fever's third consecutive 3-0 start to a season.

Seimone Augustus scored 23 points to lead the Lynx, but it wasn't enough to overcome Minnesota's defensive lapses, and the team fell to a league-worst 0-5. For the Lynx, it's the worst start in franchise history.

Indiana, which has scored 80 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time in franchise history, got 17 points from Tamika Whitmore and led by as many as 18 in the late stages.

Rookie Lindsey Harding had a season-best 17 points for the Lynx.