Taurasi, Dupree score 18 poings each as Mercury cruise to 116-84 win over Shock

Taurasi, Dupree lead Mercury past Shock, 116-84

PHOENIX — Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree scored 18 points each to lead a balanced offense as the Phoenix Mercury had a franchise-record scoring total in a 116-84 victory over the Tulsa Shock on Saturday night.

Penny Taylor had 14 points and a career high-tying eight assists, Taylor Lilley also scored 14 points, and Temeka Johnson and Nicole Ohlde added 11 each to help defending WNBA champion Phoenix (5-5) win consecutive games for the first time this season.

“We are getting a little sense on how good we can be,” Taurasi said. “We can’t be complacent. We can’t be happy with winning two in a row. But on the other side, it feels good to go out there and you know the hard work and kind of learning from our losses, putting them into playing games and seeing success.”

The Mercury’s fast-paced offense led to plenty of easy baskets in transition and off rebounds, and Phoenix scored a franchise-record 59 points in the first half. The previous mark was 58, scored against the Shock on May 25. The Mercury also tied a team record with 29 assists.

Dupree was 9 for 9 from the field as Phoenix shot 53 percent and made a season-low nine turnovers.

“It’s the turnovers that was the problem before, ” Mercury coach Corey Gaines said. “We’re starting to make the easy play, easy pass, shot there, real simple basketball.”

Shanna Crossley scored 17 points to lead the Shock (3-6), who lost their third straight — including an 87-75 defeat at San Antonio on Friday night. Kara Braxton and Amber Holt had 13 points each, and Kiesha Brown added 10.

“After being beat by that much I don’t think fatigue was necessarily the main issue,” Crossley said. “We had a back-to-back last week and we’re learning how to overcome that and come back from that night before. It goes a lot deeper than just fatigue and being tired from the game before.”

Former world-class sprinter Marion Jones played just over 10 minutes for Tulsa, and scored a season-high four points.

The Mercury honored center Tangela Smith in a pregame ceremony for becoming the fourth player in WNBA history to record 4,500 career points and 2,000 rebounds. Smith joined Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson and Lauren Jackson with that distinction.