INDIANAPOLIS – Tamika Catchings scored 29 points to lead the Indiana Fever past the Phoenix Mercury 110-90 on Friday night for their fourth straight win.
Katie Douglas had 19 points and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 15 for the Fever (20-10), who clinched a playoff berth for the sixth consecutive season. Indiana remains first in the Eastern Conference, 1½ games ahead of New York.
The Fever, who beat the Mercury 104-82 less than a week ago in Phoenix, set a franchise record for points scored in a game.
Temeka Johnson scored 23, Diana Taurasi 22 and Candice Dupree 20 for the Mercury (14-16), who remain in second place in the Western Conference despite losing their third straight game.
Phoenix tried to make it interesting in the fourth quarter after falling behind by 12 points. The Mercury's Kara Braxton outscored the Fever 7-2 to begin the period to get Phoenix within 82-75.
The Mercury cut the deficit to six on several occasions, including 92-86 on Penny Taylor's jumper with 5 minutes left. However, Indiana answered with five straight points from Catchings and Sutton-Brown's layup to regain control. During the spurt, Catchings made an off-balance layup while falling after being pushed by Tangela Smith.
Indiana shot nearly 53 percent in the first half and led by as much as 11 points. Phoenix used 16 points from Johnson in the opening half to get to 54-46 at the break.
The Fever stretched the lead back to 71-57 on Catchings' jumper midway through the third quarter. Briann January's basket made it 80-68 entering the fourth.
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