2009 WNBA Finals - Game Summaries - Game 1

Game 1

Cappie Pondexter missed a game-winning tip-in at the fourth-quarter buzzer then scored seven of her 23 points in overtime Tuesday night to help the Mercury beat the visiting Fever 120-116 in the highest-scoring game in WNBA history.

"Well, if you didn't like women's basketball," Phoenix coach Corey Gaines said, "I think you do now."

Pondexter, frustrated and in foul trouble in the first half, scored the final five points to close out Game 1 of the best-of-five series.

Penny Taylor scored 23 points and newly crowned league MVP Diana Taurasi had 22 for Phoenix.

Katie Douglas tied it with a 3-pointer for Indiana with 7.1 seconds left in regulation, then scored eight in overtime for the Fever to reach a career playoff high 30 points. Ebony Hoffman had a career-high 27 on 12 of 14 shooting as the Fever set a franchise scoring record in just the second 100-point game in the club's history.

The Mercury and Fever each scored more points than any team previously in league history. The old mark was 115, of course by Phoenix, in an overtime victory over Sacramento on June 13.

"It was fun," Taurasi said, "kind of showing a different side of women's basketball - how high a level it is. It's fun to be in the game and I'm sure it was fun to watch."

Indiana's Tamika Catchings had just eight points before fouling out with 2:42 left in overtime but harassed Taurasi into a 5 of 17 shooting night.

Rookie DeWanna Bonner's two free throws put Phoenix ahead 105-102 with 14.2 seconds left in regulation, then after a timeout, the Fever got the ball to the open Douglas, who sank the 3 that tied it.

The lead changed hands six times in overtime. Douglas' 15-footer gave Indiana its final lead at 116-115 with 1:40 left. Pondexter scored on a drive to put the Mercury ahead 117-116 with 1:27 to go, then sank a 16-footer with 20.2 seconds to go to make it 119-116. She finally finished off the Fever by making one of two free throws with 3 seconds to play.

Ratings and viewership for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on ESPN2 were up 39 percent (.43 rating vs. .31 rating for Game 1 of the '08 WNBA Finals) and 59 percent respectively (555,000 viewers vs. 348,000 viewers), making Game 1 the most viewed WNBA game on cable since Game 4 of the '07 WNBA Finals (Shock vs. Mercury) on ESPN2 (669,000).