Women's Hoops Guru

by Erin Semagin Damio

I'm unplugging and heading back into the media room. Be back in a few.

Ah, I see why the fans are still here
T-shirt throwing

Seriously, though I am not used to seeing fans stay so long. Good for them.

Game over
Merc win, 77-76
The ceiling is raining purple and yellow confetti and the Mrec players are in center cout swarmed by cameras
Fans are all staying and cheering

Phoenix' fans are really into it

time out Shock
18.6 seconds left
77-76 PHX Shock ball

Cappie for two
Nolan drains the jump shot
Shock ball

41.9
Shock taking a timeout

Cappie for 2, merc up 1

51.8 remaing
Ford foul, Merc ball

Ford gets rebound, Shock ball

1:27
Ford called for offensive foul, Merc ball
Fans on their feet

1:52
Miller for three

TS miss, DET rbd
Pierson makes jump shot
74-70, 2:00 left

and play resumes
Pierson shooting two
Makes first, Tan Smith gets rebound on second

Merc beating Shock in offensive rebounds 11-6

Court's being overrun by children. "Riding the Mercury train"

2:46, timeout Shock

3:00 left, merc ball, down by 1
Johnson rebounds Cappie's miss

4:00
Taylor collapses with the ball (but gets up)
Ford knocks it out, Merc ball, PT called for foul

Ford makes a layup, trading the lead now
4:30
Smith missed 3, Cappie rebound, DT layup

Smith steals from Taurasi

Cappie misses 3, Nolan with rebound
Pierson makes a layup, Shock have lead back

5:56
Johnson with a foul
Merc ball

Pierson with a layup

Phoenix fans on their feet making some NOISE

Timeout with 6:14 to go
PHX 68, DET 65
Cappie with 22, DT with 18, Miller with 10
Smith with 14, Nolan with 15, Pierson with 16
Detroit shooting 64% from behind the arc!

6:20
PT with the steal and assist to Cappie

6:50
DT returns the favor, Miller for two and PHX up 1

7:30
Miller -- layup, steal, assist
DT -- 3
Pierson for two
64-65 DET
8:30
Cappie with the layup (she's at 20 points now)
KS drains another 3

Are the refs "letting them play"?
I'm seeing a lot of missed calls on both ends

Merc 5-15 from behind the arc, Shock 6-10

Penny Taylor's shooting 1-10 on the game

Our entertainment is the "dancing dads"

Nolan makes a jumper to end the quarter
We begin the final quarter with the Shock ahead 57-60

18.7
Tan Smith on the floor for a few seconds
Pierson called for the foul, Tan shooting two
misses first, makes second, shock up 1

1 minute in the quarter, Braxton knocks the ball out of bounds while fighting for a rebound
Cappie drains the three
56-58 shock

1:17
Johnson called for a foul, Taylor shooting two
makes both

1:20
KS for three

2:00
Braxton makes a shot, DT makes a shot
still Shock by 4

2:22
Cappie makes them both, 49-53

2:34
Shock up 47-53
Katie Smith called for a foul, DT shooting two
Misses both, Taylor with rebound Pierson fouls Cappie

3:34
Pierson travels, Merc get the ball

Braxton shooting 2
makes both

Alright, they're throwing t-shirts and the crowd is placated

4:10
Schuey called for a foul after a lot of Merc misses where it seems like the crowd saw contact...the crowd is not happy
Shock taking a timeout

5:11
Foul on Taurasi, Ford shooting
misses both, Schuey with the rebound

6:00
Miller steals, runs the court for a layup
Miller with the rebound, DT 3 ties at 47

Nolan called for a foul, Cappie at the line
Makes both
42-47

Cappie with the jump shot, Miller with the rebound

Nolan rebounds Merc miss, Shock ball
Nolan makes another shot
47-38 DET

and Katie Smith drains the three

DT steals from Ford, Ford called for the foul
Miller misses the three, Katie Smith with the rebound
Kelly miller called for a foul, Shock still have the ball

Jump ball
Detroit gets it

Johnson makes the deep three

Swin Cash called for a foul, Merc ball, Shannon Johnson called for a foul, Merc ball again
DT makes the jump shot, tied at 38

Tangela Smith called for a foul, Shock keep the ball
Katie Smith makes a 3

PHX with the ball to start the half
Cappie drives, makes the layup, drives the foul (on Deanna Nolan)
Cappie makes the shot, PHX 36-35

Three technical fouls so far in the game (Nolan, Taurasi, and Pierson)

Pierson has 12 points, Nolan has eight, noboy else on the Shock with more than four (and that's Kara Braxton)
Phoenix' scoring is more spread out -- Taurasi 8, Pondexter 6, Smith 5

..and the buzzer goes off

Cappie thanks the fans
We get the sponsors listed
and Sue Bird thanks Taco Bell, and Diana Taurasi thinks Toyota
They're playing the Nike Commercial about "it's a skills thing"
3:00 til the rhitd quarter, teams are shooting

Cappie throws it to Taylor, misses the jumpshot
Halftime score 35-33 Shock

Mercury take the timeout
still two seconds in the half
that should give them the ball by their basket, still not much time to get a shot off -- a 2 would tie it, a 3 would give them the lead
they've got Pondexter, Taylor, Smith, Mazzante, and Snell in
Shock have Smith, Johnson, Nolan, Ford, Pierson

Pierson miss, T Smith with the rebound
Cappie's layup rolls in and out
Nolan dribbling down the shot clock, and there's a shot clock violation with 2 seconds in the half

Ford missed layup, Tan Smith knocks it out of bounds
Shock ball

Mazzante makes a deep 3
33-35
1:00 left

Nolan makes a jump shot, Shock leading by 5

and play resumes
Shock ball

Somebody's getting Diana Taurasi Italian Wings delivered...section 110, row 15
I'm hungry

2:09 left in the half
Taylor called for an offensive foul
at a timeout right now

Miller drives in, misses, Ford with the rebound
Johnson brings it up, drains a 3

Pierson ties it at 30

Katie Smith gets it, falls out of bounds, Taylor called for foul
Shock ball

Jump ball Schuey and Ford

3:42
Mazzante with the foul, Nolan makes both free throws
Merc 28-30

DT and Pierson exchange words after her shot, double tech

Pierson made it 28-26
Nolan and Smith passing back and forth
Smith misses with 1 second on the shotclock, DT gets rebound and makes jump shot

Cappie missed three, Pierson rebounds, Nolan made shot, Miller made shot
4:50
28-24

Cash steals from Taylor, Schuey steals from Cash

5:59
Ford called for a foul on the rebound
Timeout
Pondexter and Taurasi with 6 points each
Pierson with 8
Ford with 5 rebounds, Taylor with 6
PHX now 25% from 3, Detroit yet to make one
26-22 PHX

6:15

Nolan called for a technical foul (deliverate elbow to Taylor)
DT shooting the free throws

6:30
Nolan with the steal, Pierson with the shot
Nolan with another steal, PHX up by 3

6:48
Pierson draws foul on Taylor, shooting two
makes both

Ford layup, Cash rebounds Merc miss

7:30
Nolan with jump shot (first points of the game
DT with a 3

8:02
Tan Smith falls over trying to shoot over Swin Cash
Cash with the foul call, Smith makes first, misses second, makes jump shot
PHXx 22-14

8:41
Pierson with foul, no foul shots

Pierson scores, 19-14

Cappie makes a 3

Katie Smith with the airball 3, and everyone's on the floor
Snell jumping against Pierson, KS with the ball

Phoenix has the ball to start second quarter
PT misses a 3, Ford with rebound

End of first quarter recap
17-12 PHX

Cappie and Taylor with 4 each
Braxton with 4 for Detroit
Merc with 11 rebounds, Shock with 10
Merc shooting 27%, Shock 33%
Shock have 7 turnovers to Merc's 3

And the hip-hop squad are dressed as cowboys, Indians, police, and...construction workers?
Dancing to YMCA
Snell with a three

(maybe why she's in there?)

26.6 seconds in the quarter
Schuey called for the foul, Pierson shooting 2
Makes both

So Belinda Snell, who didn't see any minutes in the last game is in early

PHX knocks the ball out of bounds, Shock ball
Man, Ivory Latta's tiny
Last minute in the quarter, Feenstra called for three seconds

1:30
Katie Smith called for a foul, Penny Taylor at the line
Makes both
Score update 14-10 PHX
1:36
Schuey and Feenstra fight for a rebound, Feenstra called for a foul

2:00
Cappie misses the layup, foul called on Pee Wee Johnson
Cappie makes both
Lineup changes -- Latta, Braxton, Mazzante, Schuey in

2:20
Braxton made layup, Taylor ties it again

3:20
Penny ties it up

3:45
Cash with one made free throw, DT with an airball

Update, score is still 6-7 DET with 4:03 remaining in the quarter
(uncharacteristically low for both teams, no?)

Hmm...timeout activity is a father-daughter macarena competition

DT makes it 6-7
then Tan Smith called for foul on the other end

and we're at a timeout

CP made layup doesn't count, foul on Elaine Powell
Tangela made it 4-5 with two free throws
(foul on Braxton)

Detroit threw the ball out of bounds, still 5-4
5:25 in the quarter

Mercury don't seem to be shooting any beter than Tuesday thus far but Detroit's missing a lot too
8:51

Second foul on DT with 1 second on the shot clock, Cheryl Ford shooting FT's...crowd not happy
made 1, DET 5-2

8:50
After a few steals and a foul, Phoenix with the first bucket. I just heard a go UCONN cheer.

Tied now, 2-2 (Miller and Smith)

8:43

Lights out, music on, "one goal" video up, dancers out there, and of course the flares...

Mercury starting lineups being announced

(I love how this becomes such a production in the WNBA)

8:41

Detroit's starting lineup's being announced. Phoenix fans seem pretty good with quietly clapping, though I did hear one "you suck" behind. Wait, Katie Smith got a lot of boo's.

8:33
We've got starting lineups...same as last game for both teams. Shock are starting Nolan, Powell, Smith, Ford, and Cash, and the Mercury are starting Miller, Pondexter, Smith, Taylor, and Taurasi. Officals are Kurt Walker, June Corteau, Lamont Simpson, and Daryl Humphrey (listed as alternate).
6:30 until tip-off.

8:30
I love how the cameras decide who each team's superstar is and stand with the camera about a foot away from them during the entire Star Spangled Banner

8:29
National lAnthem time...

8:27
Spotting some cool signs:

"SISTERS OF NO MERCY: WE STILL BELIEVE"

"PLAYING ELEVEN YEARS FOR A MERCURY CHAMPIONSHIP"

"DROP THE SHOCK"
8:23
A buzzer just went off, but I'm not exactly what it's signifying...seven minutes?

8:20
By the court now. It's empty of players, but Geno Auriemma's been standing across from the visitor's bench looking for all the world like he's about the start coaching.

Alright -- Mercury on the court, complete with flag waving and a standing ovation from the crowd.

Shock coming out now to a chorus of boos. Both teams look pumped up.

7:58
The arena's filling up. Detroit is stretching, Phoenix is shooting. AKA not super exciting right now.

7:45
Diana Taurasi first tried to evade the interviewers, pointing back into the inner-access locker room and saying, "Penny's in there. I like to keep quiet at times like this."

She told us that she's been wearing the same sneakers all play-offs, (and they did match) and that she wasn't surprised by the league's decision not to suspend Plenette Pierson. Asked what she thought would happen if she cursed tonight, Taurasi said, "I'll probably get suspended for a season."

It seems like most of the Mercury really do have black toenails, even those who opted out of the fingernail polish.

7:33
Just walked into the Mercury locker room for the pre-game media availability and a familiar face emerged to announce to the media, "my name is Bridget Pettis and I'd just like to say the Mercury is rising."

7:03
I've just spotted Chamique Holdsclaw and Coco Miller in the stands

6:51
The court's clear of actual players, but the Detroit coaches seem to have taken on some of their team's warm-up. They're playing a little pick-up while the Phoenix hip hop squad practices.

Walked by Geno Auriemma in the hallway, though i'm embarrassed to say I didn't recognize him (I know, I know. What can I say? It was dark) until I was already past him and recognized his voice saying something about Heather (Buck? I'm assuming...)

6:45 (ET 'cause that's what my computer clock says)
Game begins in T-1:45 (I think? Time conversion is totally screwing me up).

I've got the internet in the arena. I'm heading out to the pre-game locker room in a few minutes. Keep checking back here closer to the game for updates.