WASHINGTON - -Cappie Pondexter scored 24 points and Diana Taurasi had 23 to help the Phoenix Mercury pick up its first road victory of the season with a 93-87 win over the host Washington Mystics on Thursday night.
Temeka Johnson added 11 points and Kelly Mazzante scored 10 for the Mercury (6-3), who had key runs to close out the first and third quarters and then held off the Mystics' late rally.
Alana Beard led five double-figure scorers with 21 points and had four steals, as the Mystics (4-2) cut a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to 89-87 on a hook shot by Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) with 1:56 remaining.
However they missed on their next four potential game-tying shots and the Mercury finally ended a late scoring drought when Tangela Smith found Le'coe Willingham inside for a layup with 6.9 seconds remaining.
"Its always tough to win in Washington, so I think today we did a good job of staying in the game," said Taurasi, who was 4-for-4 from the field in the fourth quarter, including two three-pointers.
Langhorne had 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench while Nakia Sanford scored 13 points for the Mystics, who had a 44-36 edge in scoring in the paint but missed 12 of 29 free throws.
"We had chances to win down the stretch and that's all you can ask for," Mystics coach Julie Plank said.
