Mercury forces Game 5 of WNBA finals
PHOENIX -- Cappie Pondexter picked a big moment to hit a big shot.
Pondexter scored a game-high 26 points, including a driving bank shot with 21 seconds to play, and the Phoenix Mercury defeated the Detroit Shock 77-76 on Thursday night to force a deciding fifth game in the WNBA finals.
The finale is Sunday afternoon in Detroit.
Plenette Pierson scored 23 points in a reserve role for Detroit.
Diana Taurasi added 20 points for the Mercury, which has not lost consecutive games since the two games before the all-star break.
Detroit led 74-73 when Pierson turned the ball over with 51 seconds to go.
On the next possession, Pondexter hit a 5-footer from the left baseline to put the Mercury up 75-74.
After Detroit's Deanna Nolan answered with a 16-footer, Pondexter barreled into the lane and scored to give Phoenix a 77-76 lead.
Detroit's Shannon Johnson missed a 12-footer at the buzzer to spark a wild celebration by the Mercury.
The Mercury finished fast, but they didn't start that way.
Phoenix shot 34.7 percent from the floor in an 88-83 loss in Game 3 -- matching the worst shooting percentage in Paul Westhead's two seasons as head coach.
The Mercury came out just as cold this time, hitting 2 of their first 11 shots and finishing the first period 5-for-18 (27.8 percent).
But Detroit was even more out of sync, and the Mercury went on a 14-4 run late in the first quarter and early in the second to take a 22-14 lead.
The Shock found their rhythm in the second quarter, hitting 9-of-19 shots to take a 35-33 halftime lead.
Before the game, the WNBA assessed Pierson with a flagrant foul I for her Game 3 altercation with Phoenix's Penny Taylor. Pierson and Taylor were each assessed technicals and were fined an undisclosed amount after they squared off with 8 seconds remaining in Detroit's 88-83 victory Tuesday night.
Emotions ran high early in Game 4. Pierson drew another technical foul -- along with Taurasi -- in the second quarter. The players jawed at each other when they ran down the floor after Taurasi made a jumper.
Pierson, a former Mercury player who was the WNBA's Sixth Woman of the Year, was booed heavily when she came into the game in the first quarter. It didn't seem to bother Pierson, who scored 12 points in her first 10 minutes on the floor.
Pierson hit 9 of 10 shots from the floor and 5 of 6 free throws.
Taylor was off her game. The All-WNBA first-team forward was 1 of 9 from the floor in the first half. She finished with six points on 1-for-11 shooting from the floor.