Mercury hold off Shock; Lynx and Sparks cruise to victory

MERCURY 89, SHOCK 87

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Candice Dupree scored 31 points and had a key offensive rebound that led to Samantha Prahalis' winning free throws with 22.2 seconds left and the Phoenix Mercury held off the Tulsa Shock for an 89-87 victory on Tuesday.

Diana Taurasi started, but played only 10 minutes and scored three points in her first playing time of the season while recovering from a strained left hip flexor.

Temeka Johnson and Ivory Latta each scored 16 points for Tulsa (0-2). DeWanna Bonner had 16 points for Phoenix (1-1).

Trailing by 11 with 4:42 to play, Tulsa went on a 14-2 run to take the lead at 86-85 on Glory Johnson's two free throws with 1:26 remaining.

Charde Houston hit a pair of free throws to put the Mercury ahead 87-86, before Tulsa's Scholanda Dorrell made a free to tie it at 87 with 55.8 seconds left.

Following a miss by Houston, Dupree grabbed the offensive rebound and Prahalis was fouled on the possession. She hit both free throws to give Phoenix an 89-87 lead.

LYNX 80, LIBERTY 62

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Seimone Augustus scored 22 points and defending champion Minnesota cruised over New York.

Maya Moore had 15 points, Rebekkah Brunson scored 14 and Taj McWilliams-Franklin added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Lynx (2-0).

Cappie Pondexter scored 15 points and Essence Carson had 13, and Kia Vaughn grabbed 11 rebounds for the Liberty (0-3).

Minnesota took control with a tiebreaking 17-4 run over the last 5 minutes of the second quarter and into the start of the third.

SPARKS 74, STORM 61

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Candace Parker scored 21 points and Kristi Toliver added 18 and Los Angeles defeated Seattle.

Alana Beard scored 15 points as the Sparks (2-0) led from the first quarter after their big comeback victory against the Storm on Friday in which the Sparks erased a 21-point second-half deficit.

Ann Wauters led Seattle (0-2) with 15 points. Tina Thompson added 13.