Last night, I was in my usual spot (11th row, behind the bench), as the Phoenix Mercury defeated the Seattle Storm, 84-76.

I cannot stress how great this game was...one of the best WNBA regular season games that I have ever seen.

Diana Taurasi (22 points, 5 assists), Penny Taylor (13 points, 8 rebounds, 6-8 shooting), and Anna DeForge (24 points, 7 rebounds) had great games. Lauren Jackson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Sue Bird (20 points) had great games for Seattle. Betty Lennox had 13 points and 5 steals for Seattle, but she was abused defensively by Anna DeForge down the stretch. The offense was good for both teams, but so was the defense (with the noted exception). Shots were contested, the play was physical, yet it was still a fluid game...and it was EXCITING.

Penny guarded Jacko for quite a bit in the first half and REALLY made her work for her points. Kayte Christensen and Bobo Tuvic guarded her mostly in the second. Kayte's defense was stellar, not allowing many entrance passes into Lauren. But when Lauren did get the ball, she was amazing, hitting beautiful 15' fadeaway jumpers from the baseline.

In the first half, Bird and Taurasi were playing "anything you can do, I can do better." A Taurasi three was followed a rainbow three from Bird. Taurasi would hit fadeaway jumpers in the lane, while Bird would split two defenders, drive to the hoop and finish with her left hand.

The reason Phoenix won this game was because of Carrie Graf's coaching. Graf coached Jacko in Canberra and on national teams, and she is very familiar with her game. She was able to bother Lauren by using a combination of players to be physical with Lauren from the back, while throwing arms across her front to deny entry passes.

Just a great game...

Bridget Pettis, Jennifer Gillom, and Tonya Edwards were in attendance. I also got to meet and chat with Taurasi's parents and sister four times. They sat in our section. Her mom was so bubbly and excited (she said they drove 5 hours to get to the game...at about 90 miles per hour!).