Mercury celebrate second title in 3 years

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix's Diana Taurasi knew how to rile up the already raucous crowd of about 1,000 people.

She told many orange-and-purple-clad fans that "Personally, in my career, any other championship, nothing can compare, hands down."

Taurasi and her teammates were welcomed to U.S. Airways Center last night to honor the Mercury's second WNBA championship in three years.

Taurasi was the league's leading scorer during the regular season and was named MVP of the finals after scoring 26 points in Game 5, a 94-86 victory Friday night over Eastern Conference champion Indiana.

The team entered on a red carpet that started outside the stadium, lined with fans and then reached a stage, splitting the hundreds sitting and standing with signs and noisemakers in the pavilion of the arena.

___

On the Net:

Phoenix Mercury: http://www.wnba.com/mercury