PHOENIX — Utah's two Y2K Olympians, Natalie Williams and Margo Dydek, threw in strong performances, and rookies Cara Consuegra and Marie Ferdinand did reasonably well in their professional debuts.
But the Utah Starzz were outscored 31-14 over the last 10 minutes of Wednesday night's exhibition game at America West Arena, and the Phoenix Mercury pulled off a 71-69 win to go 2-0 in the preseason. The Mercury's first lead of the second half was at 70-69 with :40 left.
How to read the results? Phoenix, always a contender in the WNBA West and with a 24-point win Sunday over Sacramento already under its belt, was missing injured regulars like Brandy Reed, Maria Stepanova, Michelle Cleary and Michelle Timms. Utah, coming off its first winning season, spent much of the first half working out first-game jitters without injured Jennifer Azzi and Naomi Mulitauaopele and led 55-40.
"Everyone played well defensively. We put some effort there for a good solid 35 minutes," said Starzz coach Fred Williams, who considered himself fairly pleased with this road-game performance. "We didn't make key stops down the end and didn't take care of the ball," he added about how the Mercs were able to take over in the final minutes.
Natalie Williams led all scorers with 26 points and added eight rebounds. Dydek, who arrived Sunday night from Poland and has practiced just twice with the team and the small WNBA ball this season, had seven blocked shots, nine points and three rebounds in 17 minutes of play.
"I didn't want to play Margo too much," Fred Williams said. "She did a very good job of intimidating and shot blocking and adjusted a lot of shots."
Though both Fred Williams and Phoenix coach Cynthia Cooper experimented with personnel, they each seemed determined to find victory in a game that both teams dominated for long stretches. Each had 10-0 first-half runs, and Utah stretched that to 26-7 run by the 12-minute mark of the second half.
Bridget Pettis finished with 20 for Phoenix, including a 10-point burst that started with a three-point play after Utah had built its 55-40 lead. She made two three-point plays and a 3-point shot plus another free throw to cut Utah's lead to 61-52, then assisted a basket by Adrain Williams (19 points, 11 rebounds) that got the lead into single digits.
The Mercs cut it to 63-60, and Utah rebuilt it to 68-60 with 2:07 left, but a Pettis three and an Adrain Williams three-point play trimmed it to 68-66 at 1:12. Lisa Harrison's basket cut it to one, and Trisha Fallon's steal resulted in a Pettis jumper for a 70-69 Phoenix lead with :13 left.
Utah inbounded to Dydek, the ball was knocked loose, and Ferdinand drew a foul in a four-woman scramble on the floor for possession with 11 seconds left. Adrain Williams made a free throw, and Utah missed a final shot that would have tied the score.
Adrienne Goodson scored 13 for Utah but had five turnovers. Ferdinand totaled five points. Consuegra had just two points but four steals.