ATLANTA – Diana Taurasi scored 25 points, Candice Dupree added 15 and the Phoenix Mercury won their third straight game with a 79-71 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.
Angel McCoughtry finished with 25 points and Erika de Souza had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Dream (17-14). The loss ended Atlanta's three-game winning streak.
Phoenix (17-13) never trailed after Taurasi's layup midway through the first quarter.
Tiffany Hayes, who scored 19 points off the bench for Atlanta, cut the lead to 74-67 with a 3-pointer. But in the last 3 minutes, she had a turnover and missed two layups and two 3s.
McCoughtry, the WNBA's leading scorer, hit a free throw to cut the lead to 74-71, but she missed a 3 and a 20-footer before fouling out with 25.8 seconds to go.
Centers Brittney Griner and de Souza tangled at the 6:46 mark of the third and had to be separated by officials and teammates.
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