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 Colorado 3 31 Tahnee Robinson 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 DateTradeApril 11, 2011To Phoenix MercuryTo Connecticut Sun third-round pick in 2012 draft Tahnee RobinsonAugust 4, 2011To Phoenix MercuryTo New York Liberty Sidney Spencer Kara Braxton
Personnel changes
Additions
PlayerSignedFormer 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 PlayerLeftNew 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
Depth Pos.StarterBench C Nakia Sanford Krystal Thomas PF Candice Dupree DeWanna Bonner SF Penny Taylor Marie Ferdinand-HarrisSidney Spencer SG Diana Taurasi Alexis Gray-Lawson PG Temeka Johnson Ketia Swanier
Season standings
Schedule
Preseason
|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 1 || May 24 || 10:00pm || Japan || 96–52 || Gray-Lawson (16) || Dupree (8) || Gray Lawson (6) || US Airways Center 2,969 || 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 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
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 1 || June 4 || 3:00pm || @ Seattle || ABC || 71–78 || Taurasi (31) || DupreeBraxton (9) || Taylor (5) || KeyArena 11,548 || 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 2 || June 10 || 10:30pm || @ Los Angeles || || 85–98 || Taylor (18) || Dupree (11) || Johnson (6) || Staples Center 10,616 || 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 3 || June 17 || 10:00pm || San Antonio || FS-A || 99–101 || Taurasi (20) || Dupree (12) || Taylor (10) || US Airways Center 12,274 || 0–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 4 || June 19 || 6:00pm || Indiana || || 93–89 (OT) || Taurasi (32) || Dupree (18) || Taylor (6) || US Airways Center 7,701 || 1–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 5 || June 21 || 8:00pm || @ San Antonio || ESPN2 || 105–98 || Taylor (30) || Dupree (13) || Johnson (6) || AT&T Center 7,072 || 2–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 6 || June 24 || 7:30pm || @ Atlanta || FS-AFS-S || 92–83 || Taurasi (20) || Taylor (10) || Taylor (8) || Philips Arena 5,492 || 3–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 7 || June 25 || 8:00pm || @ Chicago || CN100 || 86–78 || Tauarsi (23) || BraxtonTaylor (9) || Taylor (7) || Allstate Arena 5,547 || 4–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 8 || June 28 || 7:00pm || @ Indiana || || 86–91 || BonnerTaurasi (15) || Braxton (7) || Gray-LawsonTaylor (5) || Conseco Fieldhouse 6,625 || 4–4
|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 9 || July 1 || 10:00pm || Chicago || NBATVCN100 || 97–84 || Taurasi (24) || Dupree (9) || Taurasi (6) || US Airways Center 9,517 || 5–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 10 || July 5 || 9:00pm || Los Angeles || ESPN2 || 101–82 || DupreeTaurasi (20) || Braxton (5) || Taurasi (7) || US Airways Center 9,826 || 6–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 11 || July 8 || 8:00pm || @ Tulsa || || 86–78 || Taurasi (17) || Bonner (13) || Taylor (7) || BOK Center 4,081 || 7–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 12 || July 10 || 6:00pm || Tulsa || NBATVCOX || 102–63 || Taylor (18) || Sanford (7) || Taurasi (6) || US Airways Center 7,696 || 8–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 13 || July 13 || 1:00pm || @ Minnesota || NBATVFS-AFS-N || 112–105 || Taurasi (27) || DupreeTaylor (8) || JohnsonTaurasiTaylor (8) || Target Center 11,820 || 9–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 14 || July 15 || 10:00pm || Washington || NBATVFS-A || 78–64 || Dupree (20) || Taylor (8) || Taylor (7) || US Airways Center 9,075 || 10–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 15 || July 20 || 3:30pm || Minnesota || NBATVFS-A || 98–106 || Taurasi (24) || BonnerDupree (7) || Taurasi (6) || US Airways Center 12,118 || 10–5 |- | colspan="11" align="center" valign="middle" | All-Star break |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 16 || July 26 || 9:00pm || Seattle || NBATV || 77–83 || Taurasi (26) || BonnerBraxton (7) || Johnson (5) || US Airways Center 6,108 || 10–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 17 || July 28 || 12:30pm || @ San Antonio || NBATVFS-AFS-SW || 91–102 || Taurasi (27) || Dupree (14) || JohnsonTaylor (5) || AT&T Center 14,797 || 10–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 18 || July 30 || 7:00pm || @ New York || NBATVMSG+ || 91–84 || Taylor (29) || Bonner (9) || Swanier (7) || Prudential Center 7,214 || 11–7
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 19 || August 2 || 8:00pm || @ Minnesota || ESPN2 || 73–90 || Taurasi (20) || Bonner (8) || Johnson (4) || Target Center 7,126 || 11–8 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 20 || August 7 || 6:00pm || Connecticut || NBATVFS-A || 95–96 (OT) || Taurasi (29) || Dupree (12) || Taurasi (6) || US Airways Center 8,514 || 11–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 21 || August 9 || 10:00pm || Minnesota || || 85–80 || Taurasi (26) || Dupree (11) || Johnson (5) || US Airways Center 6,726 || 12–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 22 || August 11 || 10:00pm || Atlanta || || 109–95 || Bonner (25) || Bonner (13) || Taylor (6) || US Airways Center 7,940 || 13–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 23 || August 12 || 10:30pm || @ Los Angeles || || 90–93 (OT) || Taylor (29) || Bonner (10) || Johnson (12) || Staples Center 10,512 || 13–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 24 || August 16 || 10:00pm || Seattle || || 81–79 || Taurasi (24) || BonnerSanfordTaurasi (5) || JohnsonTaurasi (4) || US Airways Center 8,870 || 14–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 25 || August 20 || 10:00pm || San Antonio || NBATVFS-AFS-SW || 87–81 || Taylor (28) || Bonner (11) || Taylor (5) || US Airways Center 10,134 || 15–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 26 || August 23 || 10:00pm || New York || ESPN2 || 70–74 || Dupree (17) || Taylor (9) || JohnsonTaylor (4) || US Airways Center 8,871 || 15–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 27 || August 26 || 7:30pm || @ Connecticut || CSN-NE || 92–95 || TaurasiTaylor (26) || DupreeSanford (11) || Johnson (7) || Mohegan Sun Arena 9,007 || 15–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 28 || August 28 || 4:00pm || @ Washington || NBATVCSN-MA || 86–79 || Dupree (27) || Sanford (9) || Johnson (8) || Verizon Center 11,614 || 16–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 29 || August 30 || 8:00pm || @ Tulsa || || 96–74 || Bonner (25) || BonnerSanford (9) || BonnerTaurasi (3) || BOK Center 3,590 || 17–12
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 30 || September 1 || 8:00pm || @ San Antonio || || 68–86 || Bonner (23) || Dupree (13) || SwanierTaurasi (3) || AT&T Center 6,502 || 17–13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 31 || September 3 || 10:00pm || Los Angeles || NBATV || 93–77 || Taurasi (24) || Dupree (19) || Johnson (9) || US Airways Center 9,620 || 18–13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 32 || September 8 || 10:00pm || Tulsa || NBATVCOX || 91–76 || Taurasi (21) || Bonner (10) || Swanier (9) || US Airways Center 8,189 || 19–13 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 33 || September 9 || 10:00pm || @ Seattle || KONG || 70–85 || Taurasi (36) || Bonner (14) || Johnson (3) || KeyArena 9,686 || 19–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 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
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 1 || September 15 || 10:00pm || @ Seattle || ESPN2 || 61–80 || Taylor (13) || Bonner (8) || JohnsonSwanierTaylor (3) || KeyArena 7,279 || 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 2 || September 17 || 10:00pm || Seattle || NBATV || 92–83 || Dupree (29) || Dupree (13) || Johnson (9) || US Airways Center 9,356 || 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 3 || September 19 || 10:00pm || @ Seattle || ESPN2 || 77–75 || Dupree (20) || Taylor (17) || JohnsonTaurasi (3) || KeyArena 8,589 || 2–1
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 1 || September 22 || 9:00pm || @ Minnesota || ESPN2 || 67–95 || Taurasi (22) || Bonner (8) || Johnson (4) || Target Center 8,912 || 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 2 || September 25 || 5:00pm || Minnesota || ESPN2 || 86–103 || BonnerTaurasi (22) || Dupree (11) || Johnson (6) || US Airways Center 8,617 || 0–2
Statistics
Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 34 5 25.2 .430 .343 .909 7.0 0.8 1.00 1.06 10.7 18 18 19.8 .559 .500 .595 4.9 1.3 0.80 0.80 10.6 34 34 31.6 .548 .167 .852 8.2 1.8 0.56 0.74 14.6 34 2 17.4 .335 .333 .974 1.5 1.1 0.56 0.21 6.8 27 0 11.4 .398 .349 .821 0.7 1.3 0.22 0.00 3.9 30 30 23.9 .435 .385 .864 2.0 4.4 0.80 0.17 6.4 33 16 14.4 .484 .000 .750 4.2 0.4 0.21 0.21 4.2 14 0 5.2 .667 .000 .333 0.7 0.0 0.21 0.07 1.6 8 0 8.1 .313 .750 1.000 0.6 0.8 0.00 0.00 1.9 29 4 14.8 .342 .286 .688 1.9 2.3 0.79 0.03 2.7 32 32 30.2 .449 .395 .903 3.2 3.6 0.75 0.63 21.6 29 29 29.8 .511 .402 .874 4.9 4.7 1.69 0.38 16.7 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.
References
External links