MINNEAPOLIS – Diana Taurasi scored 11 of her 31 points in the second overtime and the Phoenix Mercury set the WNBA scoring record with a 127-124 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday night.
Candice Dupree led the Mercury (10-12) with had 32 points, and DeWanna Bonner and Penny Taylor added 20 each. Phoenix, which rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter, eclipsed the previous high set in a 123-91 victory at Tulsa on Thursday.
Seimone Augustus scored a season-high 36 points for the Lynx (7-14) as the teams combined for the highest scoring game in league history. Charde Houston added 21 points as Minnesota lost for the fifth time in seven games and fell 2½ games behind Phoenix for second place in the Western Conference.
Phoenix, which won for the fifth time in six games, topped 90 points for the seventh straight game, also a WNBA record. The Mercury had done it six consecutive games on three prior occasions.
Taurasi, the league's leading scorer at 23.4 points per game, finished just 8 for 23 from the field, but was 14 for 14 from the free-throw line — including seven in the second overtime. She also made a fadeaway jumper and scored on a drive as she was knocked to the floor.
The Mercury used a 12-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to pull to 90-88, but Houston hit a long jumper and a 3-pointer on the next two Minnesota possessions. A 3-pointer by Taurasi got the Mercury to 99-98 with 12 seconds to go before Lindsay Whalen made one of two free throws for the Lynx.
Bonner capped the Mercury's fourth-quarter comeback with a tying jumper with 2.1 seconds left. It was the first tie of the game.
Augustus scored 15 points in the third quarter to key a Minnesota rush after Phoenix got within four points early in the second half.
A pair of long jumpers by Augustus sandwiched around one of her five 3-pointers gave the Lynx a 79-66 lead. After Phoenix scored six straight, Augustus hit another long jumper to put Minnesota up nine.
Augustus scored seven of Minnesota's points during a 13-4 run for a 45-28 lead midway through the second quarter. Phoenix used a 10-2 run to pull to 54-47 at halftime.
