2011 Phoenix Mercury season

2011 Phoenix Mercury season
Head coach	Corey Gaines
Arena	US Airways Center
Results
Record	19–15 (.559)
Place	3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in Conference Finals
Media
Television	FS-A ESPN2, NBATV
← 2010 2012  →

The 2011 WNBA season was the 15th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association.

Transactions

WNBA draft

The following are the Mercury's selections in the 2011 WNBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/team/country
2	19	Brittany Spears	United States	Colorado
3	31	Tahnee Robinson	United States	Nevada

Transaction log

• February 9: The Mercury signed Brooke Smith, Sequoia Holmes, and Taylor Lilley to training camp contracts.
• February 22: The Mercury signed Lauren Ervin to a training camp contract.
• February 24: The Mercury signed Marie Ferdinand-Harris and Nakia Sanford.
• February 25: The Mercury signed Alexis Gray-Lawson and Amanda Thompson.
• March 14: The Mercury waived Sequoia Holmes and Brooke Smith.
• April 10: The Mercury signed Erlana Larkins to a training camp contract.
• April 11: The Mercury traded draft rights to Tahnee Robinson to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2012 draft.
• April 15: The Mercury waived Amanda Thompson.
• April 22: The Mercury signed Yuko Oga and Olayinka Sanni to training camp contracts.
• April 28: The Mercury waived Lauren Ervin.
• May 19: The Mercury waived Erlana Larkins.
• May 30: The Mercury waived Taylor Lilley and Brittany Spears.
• June 2: The Mercury waived Yuko Oga.
• August 4: The Mercury traded Kara Braxton to the New York Liberty in exchange for Sidney Spencer.
• August 12: The Mercury signed Krystal Thomas and waived Olayinka Sanni.

Trades

Date	Trade
April 11, 2011	To Phoenix Mercury	To Connecticut Sun
	third-round pick in 2012 draft	Tahnee Robinson
August 4, 2011	To Phoenix Mercury	To New York Liberty
	Sidney Spencer	Kara Braxton

Personnel changes

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Marie Ferdinand-Harris	February 24, 2011	Los Angeles Sparks
Nakia Sanford	February 24, 2011	Washington Mystics
Alexis Gray-Lawson	February 25, 2011	free agent
Olayinka Sanni	April 20, 2011	free agent
Sidney Spencer	August 4, 2011	New York Liberty
Krystal Thomas	August 12, 2011	free agent

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team
Tangela Smith	February 2, 2011	Indiana Fever
Sequoia Holmes	March 14, 2011	free agent
Brooke Smith	March 14, 2011	free agent
Taylor Lilley	May 30, 2011	free agent
Kara Braxton	August 4, 2011	New York Liberty
Olayinka Sanni	August 12, 2011	free agent

Roster

2011 Phoenix Mercury roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 24 Bonner, DeWanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 137 lb (62kg) 1987-08-21 Auburn 2 F 4 Dupree, Candice 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1984-08-16 Temple 5 G 9 Ferdinand-Harris, Marie 5' 9" (1.75m) 162 lb (73kg) 1978-10-13 LSU 9 G 21 Gray-Lawson, Alexis 5' 8" (1.73m) 176 lb (80kg) 1987-04-21 California R G 2 Johnson, Temeka 5' 3" (1.6m) 142 lb (64kg) 1982-09-06 LSU 6 F/C 43 Sanford, Nakia 6' 4" (1.93m) 195 lb (88kg) 1976-05-10 Kansas 8 G/F 6 Spencer, Sidney 6' 3" (1.91m) 183 lb (83kg) 1985-03-07 Tennessee 4 G 11 Swanier, Ketia 5' 7" (1.7m) 150 lb (68kg) 1986-08-10 Connecticut 3 G 3 Taurasi, Diana 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 1982-06-11 Connecticut 7 F 13 Taylor, Penny 6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) 1981-05-24 Australia 9 F/C 32 Thomas, Krystal 6' 5" (1.96m) 195 lb (88kg) 1989-06-10 Duke R	Head coach Corey Gaines (Loyola Marymount) Assistant coaches Julie Hairgrove (Arizona) Bridget Pettis (Florida) Athletic trainer Tamara Poole (Cal State Dominguez Hills) Strength and conditioning coach Ben Hadley (Arizona State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth

Pos.	Starter	Bench
C	Nakia Sanford	Krystal Thomas
PF	Candice Dupree	DeWanna Bonner
SF	Penny Taylor	Marie Ferdinand-Harris Sidney Spencer
SG	Diana Taurasi	Alexis Gray-Lawson
PG	Temeka Johnson	Ketia Swanier

Season standings

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Minnesota Lynx x	27	7	.794	–	14–3	13–4	18–4
Seattle Storm x	21	13	.618	6.0	15–2	6–11	15–7
Phoenix Mercury x	19	15	.559	8.0	11–6	8–9	11–11
San Antonio Silver Stars x	18	16	.529	9.0	9–8	9–8	11–11
Los Angeles Sparks o	15	19	.441	12.0	10–7	5–12	10–12
Tulsa Shock o	3	31	.088	24.0	2–15	1–16	1–21

Schedule

Preseason

2011 Game Log: Preseason Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 May 24 10:00pm Japan 96–52 Gray-Lawson (16) Dupree (8) Gray Lawson (6) US Airways Center 2,969 1–0 2 May 28 10:00pm @ Los Angeles 72–83 3 players (12) Braxton (6) 5 players (2) The Pit N/A 1–1

Regular season

2011 Game Log: Regular Season
June Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 June 4 3:00pm @ Seattle ABC 71–78 Taurasi (31) Dupree Braxton (9) Taylor (5) KeyArena 11,548 0–1 2 June 10 10:30pm @ Los Angeles 85–98 Taylor (18) Dupree (11) Johnson (6) Staples Center 10,616 0–2 3 June 17 10:00pm San Antonio FS-A 99–101 Taurasi (20) Dupree (12) Taylor (10) US Airways Center 12,274 0–3 4 June 19 6:00pm Indiana 93–89 (OT) Taurasi (32) Dupree (18) Taylor (6) US Airways Center 7,701 1–3 5 June 21 8:00pm @ San Antonio ESPN2 105–98 Taylor (30) Dupree (13) Johnson (6) AT&T Center 7,072 2–3 6 June 24 7:30pm @ Atlanta FS-A FS-S 92–83 Taurasi (20) Taylor (10) Taylor (8) Philips Arena 5,492 3–3 7 June 25 8:00pm @ Chicago CN100 86–78 Tauarsi (23) Braxton Taylor (9) Taylor (7) Allstate Arena 5,547 4–3 8 June 28 7:00pm @ Indiana 86–91 Bonner Taurasi (15) Braxton (7) Gray-Lawson Taylor (5) Conseco Fieldhouse 6,625 4–4
July Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 9 July 1 10:00pm Chicago NBATV CN100 97–84 Taurasi (24) Dupree (9) Taurasi (6) US Airways Center 9,517 5–4 10 July 5 9:00pm Los Angeles ESPN2 101–82 Dupree Taurasi (20) Braxton (5) Taurasi (7) US Airways Center 9,826 6–4 11 July 8 8:00pm @ Tulsa 86–78 Taurasi (17) Bonner (13) Taylor (7) BOK Center 4,081 7–4 12 July 10 6:00pm Tulsa NBATV COX 102–63 Taylor (18) Sanford (7) Taurasi (6) US Airways Center 7,696 8–4 13 July 13 1:00pm @ Minnesota NBATV FS-A FS-N 112–105 Taurasi (27) Dupree Taylor (8) Johnson Taurasi Taylor (8) Target Center 11,820 9–4 14 July 15 10:00pm Washington NBATV FS-A 78–64 Dupree (20) Taylor (8) Taylor (7) US Airways Center 9,075 10–4 15 July 20 3:30pm Minnesota NBATV FS-A 98–106 Taurasi (24) Bonner Dupree (7) Taurasi (6) US Airways Center 12,118 10–5 All-Star break 16 July 26 9:00pm Seattle NBATV 77–83 Taurasi (26) Bonner Braxton (7) Johnson (5) US Airways Center 6,108 10–6 17 July 28 12:30pm @ San Antonio NBATV FS-A FS-SW 91–102 Taurasi (27) Dupree (14) Johnson Taylor (5) AT&T Center 14,797 10–7 18 July 30 7:00pm @ New York NBATV MSG+ 91–84 Taylor (29) Bonner (9) Swanier (7) Prudential Center 7,214 11–7
August Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 19 August 2 8:00pm @ Minnesota ESPN2 73–90 Taurasi (20) Bonner (8) Johnson (4) Target Center 7,126 11–8 20 August 7 6:00pm Connecticut NBATV FS-A 95–96 (OT) Taurasi (29) Dupree (12) Taurasi (6) US Airways Center 8,514 11–9 21 August 9 10:00pm Minnesota 85–80 Taurasi (26) Dupree (11) Johnson (5) US Airways Center 6,726 12–9 22 August 11 10:00pm Atlanta 109–95 Bonner (25) Bonner (13) Taylor (6) US Airways Center 7,940 13–9 23 August 12 10:30pm @ Los Angeles 90–93 (OT) Taylor (29) Bonner (10) Johnson (12) Staples Center 10,512 13–10 24 August 16 10:00pm Seattle 81–79 Taurasi (24) Bonner Sanford Taurasi (5) Johnson Taurasi (4) US Airways Center 8,870 14–10 25 August 20 10:00pm San Antonio NBATV FS-A FS-SW 87–81 Taylor (28) Bonner (11) Taylor (5) US Airways Center 10,134 15–10 26 August 23 10:00pm New York ESPN2 70–74 Dupree (17) Taylor (9) Johnson Taylor (4) US Airways Center 8,871 15–11 27 August 26 7:30pm @ Connecticut CSN-NE 92–95 Taurasi Taylor (26) Dupree Sanford (11) Johnson (7) Mohegan Sun Arena 9,007 15–12 28 August 28 4:00pm @ Washington NBATV CSN-MA 86–79 Dupree (27) Sanford (9) Johnson (8) Verizon Center 11,614 16–12 29 August 30 8:00pm @ Tulsa 96–74 Bonner (25) Bonner Sanford (9) Bonner Taurasi (3) BOK Center 3,590 17–12
September Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 30 September 1 8:00pm @ San Antonio 68–86 Bonner (23) Dupree (13) Swanier Taurasi (3) AT&T Center 6,502 17–13 31 September 3 10:00pm Los Angeles NBATV 93–77 Taurasi (24) Dupree (19) Johnson (9) US Airways Center 9,620 18–13 32 September 8 10:00pm Tulsa NBATV COX 91–76 Taurasi (21) Bonner (10) Swanier (9) US Airways Center 8,189 19–13 33 September 9 10:00pm @ Seattle KONG 70–85 Taurasi (36) Bonner (14) Johnson (3) KeyArena 9,686 19–14 34 September 11 6:00pm Minnesota FS-A 90–96 Taurasi (19) Dupree (6) Swanier (4) US Airways Center 12,666 19–15
All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess or ESPN3.com

Postseason

2011 Game Log: Postseason
Western Conference Semifinals Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series 1 September 15 10:00pm @ Seattle ESPN2 61–80 Taylor (13) Bonner (8) Johnson Swanier Taylor (3) KeyArena 7,279 0–1 2 September 17 10:00pm Seattle NBATV 92–83 Dupree (29) Dupree (13) Johnson (9) US Airways Center 9,356 1–1 3 September 19 10:00pm @ Seattle ESPN2 77–75 Dupree (20) Taylor (17) Johnson Taurasi (3) KeyArena 8,589 2–1
Western Conference Finals Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series 1 September 22 9:00pm @ Minnesota ESPN2 67–95 Taurasi (22) Bonner (8) Johnson (4) Target Center 8,912 0–1 2 September 25 5:00pm Minnesota ESPN2 86–103 Bonner Taurasi (22) Dupree (11) Johnson (6) US Airways Center 8,617 0–2

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
DeWanna Bonner	34	5	25.2	.430	.343	.909	7.0	0.8	1.00	1.06	10.7
Kara Braxton	18	18	19.8	.559	.500	.595	4.9	1.3	0.80	0.80	10.6
Candice Dupree	34	34	31.6	.548	.167	.852	8.2	1.8	0.56	0.74	14.6
Marie Ferdinand-Harris	34	2	17.4	.335	.333	.974	1.5	1.1	0.56	0.21	6.8
Alexis Gray-Lawson	27	0	11.4	.398	.349	.821	0.7	1.3	0.22	0.00	3.9
Temeka Johnson	30	30	23.9	.435	.385	.864	2.0	4.4	0.80	0.17	6.4
Nakia Sanford	33	16	14.4	.484	.000	.750	4.2	0.4	0.21	0.21	4.2
Olayinka Sanni	14	0	5.2	.667	.000	.333	0.7	0.0	0.21	0.07	1.6
Sidney Spencer	8	0	8.1	.313	.750	1.000	0.6	0.8	0.00	0.00	1.9
Ketia Swanier	29	4	14.8	.342	.286	.688	1.9	2.3	0.79	0.03	2.7
Diana Taurasi	32	32	30.2	.449	.395	.903	3.2	3.6	0.75	0.63	21.6
Penny Taylor	29	29	29.8	.511	.402	.874	4.9	4.7	1.69	0.38	16.7
Krystal Thomas	8	0	12.3	.563	.000	.500	1.0	0.1	0.00	0.63	2.6

Awards and honors

• Candice Dupree was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of June 13, 2011.
• Penny Taylor was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of June 20, 2011.
• Diana Taurasi was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 8, 2011.
• DeWanna Bonner was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 29, 2011.
• Diana Taurasi was named to the 2011 WNBA All-Star Team as a starter.
• Penny Taylor was named to the 2011 WNBA All-Star Team as a reserve.
• Diana Taurasi finished as a Peak Performer, averaging 21.6 points per game.
• DeWanna Bonner was named Sixth Woman of the Year.
• Diana Taurasi was named to the All-WNBA First Team.
• Penny Taylor was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.