Pondexter leads Mercury past Sparks

LOS ANGELES -- Cappie Pondexter had 26 points and six assists, Diana Taurasi added 20 points and the first-place Phoenix Mercury defeated Los Angeles 98-90 Thursday night, ending the Sparks' six-game winning streak.

Penny Taylor added 17 points, Temeka Johnson had 14 points and six assists against her former team, and DeWanna Bonner had 13 points and nine rebounds.

The Mercury had already clinched the franchise's fifth playoff berth and second in the last three years. Their 19 wins trail only Eastern Conference-leading Indiana, which has 20. Phoenix owns a two-game lead in the Western Conference over Seattle, with the Sparks another five games back in third.

Lisa Leslie scored 23 points, Betty Lennox added 18 and Tina Thompson had 17 points and seven assists for the Sparks, who were without starters Candace Parker and Kristi Harrower.

Parker missed the game because of undisclosed personal reasons, while Harrower missed the first of three games to be in Australia for her grandmother's funeral.

Team co-owner Kathy Goodman said Parker would return to practice on Friday and that she would "definitely" play Sunday against Connecticut. Goodman said Parker asked the team not to disclose any details about her absence, but she said the Olympian wasn't injured.

Phoenix used a 16-6 run, including five by Pondexter and four by Taurasi, to take its largest lead, 89-79. But the Sparks scored nine consecutive points to trail 89-88 with 2:45 left. Pondexter lost the ball and Marie Ferdinand-Harris snagged it and scored on a driving layup before Leslie hit two free throws to cap the spurt.

But it was all Mercury from there. They outscored the Sparks 9-2 to end the game. Lennox missed a 3-pointer and was called for traveling before Noelle Quinn missed a 3-pointer and Thompson committed a foul in the backcourt as the Sparks unraveled over the final minute.

Phoenix rallied from six points down to take a 74-68 lead after three quarters. The Mercury were 10-for-12 from the line, with Pondexter making all four of her foul shots. Leslie's basket at 6:58 marked the Sparks' last lead of the game.

The Mercury staged another comeback from a 15-point deficit to tie the game in the second. They outscored the Sparks 18-5, including 13 straight points to open the quarter, to get within two. They tied the game at 40 on a free throw by Bonner.

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton scored four in a row and Lennox hit a 3-pointer that sent Los Angeles into halftime leading 47-42 despite shooting 25 percent.

The Sparks hardly looked like a team missing two starters in the opening quarter when they shot 65 percent from the floor and led 34-19, with their points being a season high in a quarter. Leslie was perfect, hitting all seven of her field goals and making her only free throw.