Phoenix Mercury at Seattle Storm

DeWanna Bonner leads Mercury past Storm, ending 10-game skid

Bonner, who had 11 rebounds, scored 13 points in the second half to help Phoenix (5-19) defeat the Storm for the first time in four games this season.

"Man, it's been a long time since we've won," said Bonner, who entered the game as the No. 3 scorer in the league at 20 points per game. "It felt really good to go out there and get a win on the road."

Camille Little had 11 points to lead Seattle (11-14) while Tanisha Wright added 10 points and eight rebounds. Reserve Tina Thompson had 10 points.

Lauren Jackson shot just 2 of 8 from the field and hand six points for the Storm while Sue Bird was 3 of 9 from the field and finished with eight points and eight assists.

Seattle has lost four of five.

"I think we just had a bad game," Bird said. "They had a good game and we had a bad game. We need to figure it out quick. There are only nine games until the end of the season and that's not a lot of time."

The Mercury broke from a 54-all tie by outscoring Seattle 13-2 to start the fourth quarter.

Taurasi, playing in just her fourth WNBA game of the year because of injuries, certainly had a good time.

"It was a good game," Taurasi said. "We've been saying that sometimes when you lose 10 games in a row you focus on the 10 losses, but we've focused on putting quarters together. Tonight we put together four quarters of smart and really good basketball."

Five players scored to ignite a 13-2 run by the Mercury to start the fourth quarter. Briana Gilbreath converted a three-point play and Taurasi hit a 3-pointer to give Phoenix a 67-56 lead with 6:35 remaining in the game.

Shekinna Stricklen hit a 3 to cut the Mercury's lead to 69-66 with 3:39 left before Bonner answered with a layup and Prahalis hit two free throws to push the lead to seven.

The Mercury led by as many as seven points in the third quarter before the Storm rallied to tie it 54-all at the end of the quarter.

Bonner scored 11 points to help the Mercury to a 36-32 halftime lead. She had nine in the second quarter, including the first six of the period.

Little scored seven points in the opening half for the Storm, which led 29-28 before Phoenix closed with an 8-3 run.

Jackson slumped in her third WNBA game of the season after she had scored 16 in an 84-66 win over New York on Sunday. She scored four in her debut Aug. 23 after sitting out the first half of the season to devote her time to the London Olympics for Australia.

"I think that we're a team that's in transition right now," Storm coach Brian Agler said. "We're bringing people in and we're going to try to get better and make the playoffs."

Regular Season Series

SEA wins series 4-1