Tamika Catchings had 14 points, 12
rebounds and seven assists to help the Indiana Fever take an 86-85 win over
the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Ebony Hoffman had 18 points, Briann January added 17 points and Katie Douglas
added 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Fever, who hold a 2-1
lead in the best-of-five series.
Cappie Pondexter had 23 points and eight assists, Diana Taurasi added 18
points and seven rebounds while Le'coe Willingham added 17 points and five
boards for the Mercury, who have dropped the last two games after winning the
first in overtime.
"If we have open shots, we've got to make them, and it's my job to get them
open even more to take those shots," Mercury head coach Corey Gaines said. "So
I take responsibility for that. I'll have them in a better position to get
them more open shots."
Game 4 is on Wednesday in Indianapolis.
"Tomorrow we're not going to have a day off, we're going to come in and start
looking at Wednesday, and everybody has to stay focused and we have to stay
hungry," Catchings said. "That's the biggest thing, I think a lot of teams get
content especially when you go up 2-1, they get a little down, but we have to
stay on our toes and keep them on their heels."
The Mercury kept the game close in the fourth and a jumper from Tangela Smith
followed by a layup from Taurasi tied the game at 75-75 with a little over
five minutes to play.
A technical foul on Taurasi resulted in Catchings making a free throw followed
by two from January for a three-point edge.
Consecutive jumpers from Pondexter gave Phoenix an 81-80 lead with 3:18 to
play, and the lead went back and forth over the next couple possessions. Penny
Taylor's bucket with 2:09 to play gave the Mercury an 85-84 lead.
Pondexter then stole the ball from Tammy Sutton-Brown, but missed a bucket
and, following a steal from Smith, Taurasi missed a trey with 1:15 to play.
Hoffman then drilled a 19-foot jumper with 57 ticks left to give her team a
one-point lead.
Each team missed a number of shots down the stretch, and with just three
seconds left, Phoenix had one last chance. Kelly Mazzante put up a shot from
just outside the right side of the paint, but Hoffman tipped the ball and it
fell short as the buzzer sounded.
In the first quarter, the Fever went on an early 8-2 run to help the team take
a 24-17 lead after 10 minutes of play.
The Mercury chipped away at their deficit in the second quarter and an 8-2 run
capped by a Taylor layup tied the game at 35 with a little under four minutes
to play in the first half. Indiana took a 47-44 lead into the locker room
after Tully Bevilaqua's three-pointer in the final minute.
Trailing by seven points late in the third quarter, Indiana surged ahead with
a 12-2 run. Hoffman got the run started with two free throws and January
followed with a three-ball. After Taurasi made a jumper, January got the next
seven points with her jumper near the buzzer giving the team a 70-67 lead
heading into the final frame.
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