PHOENIX â€" Penny Taylor scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half as the Phoenix Mercury built a big halftime lead and routed Tulsa 102-63 on Sunday in Teresa Edwards' debut as interim coach.
Edwards took over from Nolan Richardson, who resigned after the Shock's loss to Phoenix on Friday night that gave Tulsa a WNBA-worst 1-10 record on the season.
Diana Taurasi added 12 points and six assists for Phoenix (8-4), which has won four straight and eight of its last nine to move into first place in the Western Conference by percentage points. The rout was on early in this one as the Mercury made their first 11 shots - a WNBA record to start a game - and built a 32-point halftime lead.
Tiffany Jackson led the Shock (1-11) with 19 points, and rookie Elizabeth Cambage added 15 points.
Phoenix jumped out to a 26-5 lead in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game. Taylor had 11 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, in the first eight minutes and the Mercury led 60-28 at the break.
The Shock, the worst shooting team in the league, missed 15 of their 19 shots in the first quarter and made only one basket outside the lane in the first half.
Phoenix, which made 37 of 61 on the day, led by as much as 94-49 with 6:46 remaining. The most lopsided game in WNBA history is Seattle's 111-65 win over Tulsa on July 7, 2010.
Richardson had coached the Shock since the team moved to Oklahoma from Detroit after the 2009 season. He was 7-38 with the Shock after losing to Phoenix 86-78 in Tulsa on Friday and then resigning by "mutual decision," he told the Tulsa World on Saturday.
All 10 Mercury players available to play on Sunday scored by halftime.
The Associated Press
No comments:
Post a Comment