Liberty-Mercury Preview

The Phoenix Mercury will try to win its fourth consecutive game when they entertain the New York Liberty on Friday at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.

Phoenix (7-9) has won three in a row to move into a tie with Dallas for third place in the WNBA's Western Conference. In the past week, the Mercury has posted wins over Washington, New York and Connecticut.

Sonja Petrovic had a career-high 22 points in an 86-75 victory over Connecticut on Wednesday. Brittney Griner had 19 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots. DeWanna Bonner added 18 points for Phoenix, which shot 50.8 percent from the field while holding the Sun to 38.2-percent shooting.

Candice Dupree had 26 points and seven rebounds while Diana Taurasi added 24 points in the Mercury's 104-97 overtime victory over New York on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Tina Charles led the Liberty with 26 points and eight rebounds. Sugar Rodgers had 24 points.

Beating New York for the second time in six days would be an impressive feat for Phoenix. The Liberty has won seven of its last eight games and is coming off a 95-92 overtime victory against a Minnesota squad that won its first 13 games to set a WNBA record for consecutive victories to start a season. It was New York's fourth overtime game in its last five outings.

Rodgers scored a career-high 30 points in the win over Minnesota. Amanda Zahui B. made her first career start, posting 17 points and nine rebounds in place of Charles, who underwent a procedure Tuesday to repair a broken nose.

Charles sustained the broken nose in a June 22 game against Atlanta. She played two games before sitting out against Minnesota, posting 21 points with 13 rebounds against Chicago and 26 points with 15 rebounds against Indiana. The team has not indicated when Charles will return. She leads the WNBA with 22.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.