Los Angeles, understandably, came into tonight's contest riding high winning their past 6 games. However, that streak came to an end thanks to a breakout game by Penny Taylor and an all-around team effort in a rally win over the Sparks, 98-90.

Tonight's win sent an important message to the rest of the league. As if there were any doubt before, Phoenix has now proven they are the most resilient team in the WNBA and certainly a legitimate force to be reckoned with. It wasn't a must-win game for the Mercury, but it's clear they were on a mission.

Admittedly, it was somewhat of a letdown when we heard that Candace Parker wouldn't be playing tonight due to "personal reasons." However, the Sparks certainly didn't show any signs of letting up storming out of the gates to a 34-19 lead. Led by a superb 7-7, 15 point 1st quarter performance by Lisa Leslie the Sparks came out on fire hitting on 65% of their shots in the 1st. They were the more aggressive team and it showed in the free-throw disparity early on with a 9-2 advantage. As I mentioned in the preview, Phoenix needed to limit their turnovers but that didn't happen in the 1st quarter as the Mercury turned the ball over 6 times which led to 12 Sparks points.

Phoenix came out much better to start the 2nd quarter scoring 8 quick points and doing a better job of their transition defense. The Sparks chances of shooting close to 70% all game was slim to none, so it was the perfect point for the Mercury to make a move. Temeka Johnson did a great job of penetrating the lane forcing the Sparks defense to collapse and kicking the ball back out to her shooters, namely Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi who paced Phoenix with 13 and 8 points respectively at the half. For a while, it really became a three-point contest with each team shooting multiple three's in a 4 minute span.

Corey Gaines' 'Rover' defense worked very well in the 2nd quarter to force the Sparks to continue to shoot from the perimeter, knowing that LA wasn't going to shoot at such a high percentage all night. The first half was a true tale of two quarters with the Sparks falling into Phoenix's game in the 2nd quarter allowing the Mercury to make a comeback...and boy did they ever. The Mercury held Los Angeles to just 13 points in the half (3 of which were from Betty Lennox with 2 seconds left) and closed the gap to 5 at halftime.

In the 3rd, Phoenix erupted for 32 points in an incredible display of what a dangerous all-around team the Mercury are. Meek was fantastic at dishing the ball, as well as Cappie, and both had 5 assists at the end of the quarter. Penny Taylor seemingly found her groove and paced the Mercury with 14. Perhaps most important, the Mercury continued to be active on the glass which led to more second-chance points.

The Mercury were up as much as 10 points in the 4th quarter until the Sparks cut the lead to 1 with just over 2 minutes left. Even so, there was never a sense the Mercury were going to let this one slip away with as well as they played in the 2nd half. Phoenix came up with some huge defensive stops, as well as key buckets on offense, to put the game away 98-90 beating the Sparks for the third time this season.

What was so special about this win was the play of multiple ladies; there wasn't necessarily one player who carried the team the entire way. At several key points, different players stepped up and either grabbed a big rebound, made a stop defensively, or scored an important basket.

"Our bread and butter is rebounding and going," Diana Taurasi said after the game. "When we can't get stops and can't rebound, its hard for us to get in the open court where we thrive. Second quarter, third quarter, we opened it up a bit. Teams always say they're bigger than us, but we look at our up-and-down tempo. That's where we kind of impose our will and make it tough on them."

Penny Taylor played her best game in a Mercury uniform this season with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in just 20 minutes of action. Cappie had her usual fantastic game with 26 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. Temeka had a superb game with 14 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. Diana struggled from the floor but still finished with 20 points while DeWanna Bonner (the obvious Rookie of the Year) had a phenomenal night with 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Temeka's leadership was huge in this game. "She's our little general," Coach Gaines said about Meek. "She comes down and keeps that pace going for me. I know it's difficult because when you're pushing the ball you don't get a lot of shots, you get them for other people. It's a tough job to do and she's doing it well. She's learning on the fly, and that's tough. It's definitely a learning experience for her, but she's doing a great job."

As I mentioned in the game preview, the Mercury were able to win the rebound battle (42-30) including a 13-10 offensive rebounding edge. In spite of a 65% shooting 1st quarter, the Sparks finished the game a mediocre 41% from the floor while the Mercury shot 45% as well as 40% from beyond the arc (9-22).

"We stayed together, and a lot of that had to do with our energy and intensity level. We rebounded, and I think that was key for us tonight. Everybody was kind of pitching in, getting rebounds here and there, especially the guards. We were able to get long rebounds, push it out, and start the break. One of the weaknesses of LA is they aren't a great transition team. We exploited that today by rebounding."

The Mercury head home to take on the Connecticut Sun on Saturday night. Make sure to come by (it's Temeka Johnson's HOPE night for her foundation) and support the team!