2011 Phoenix Mercury season

2011 Phoenix Mercury season
Head Coach	Corey Gaines
Arena	US Airways Center
Attendance	9,167 per game
Results
Record	19–15 (.559)
Place	3rd (Western)
Playoff Finish	Lost in Conference Finals
Team Leaders
Points	Taurasi (21.6)
Rebounds	Dupree (8.2)
Assists	Taylor (4.7)
Media
Television	FS-A ESPN2, NBATV
Phoenix Mercury seasons
< 2010	2012 >

The 2011 WNBA season is 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.

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.

Personnel changes

Additions

Subtractions

Roster

2011 Phoenix Mercury roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From G/F 24 Bonner, DeWanna 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 137 lb (62 kg) 08-21-1987 Auburn F 4 Dupree, Candice 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 08-16-1984 Temple G 9 Ferdinand-Harris, Marie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 162 lb (73 kg) 10-13-1978 LSU G 21 Gray-Lawson, Alexis 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 04-21-1987 California G 2 Johnson, Temeka 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) 142 lb (64 kg) 09-06-1982 LSU F/C 43 Sanford, Nakia 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 05-10-1976 Kansas G/F 6 Spencer, Sidney 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 03-07-1985 Tennessee G 11 Swanier, Ketia 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 08-10-1986 Connecticut G 3 Taurasi, Diana 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 163 lb (74 kg) 06-11-1982 Connecticut F 13 Taylor, Penny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 05-24-1981 Australia F/C 32 Thomas, Krystal 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 06-10-1989 Duke	Head coach Corey Gaines (Loyola Marymount) Assistant coaches Julie Hairgrove (Arizona) Bridget Pettis (Florida) Athletic trainer Tamara Poole (Cal State-DH) Strength and conditioning coach Ben Hadley (Arizona State) Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (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

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

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.