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The 2009 season was a special year for Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury ended up winning their second championship, as they beat the Indiana Fever 3-2.
Taurasi made history, as she was the first Mercury player to win Most Valuable Player (MVP). As of now, she also the only player to win the award. She also won Finals MVP, which made her the second player in Mercury history to do so. The first player to do it was Cappie Pondexter.
Taurasi won MVP after averaging 20.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals. As far as her Finals MVP win, she averaged 20.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Her best game in that series was in Game 5, as she finished with 26 points, six rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal.
Phoenix’s star guard had a spectacular year, and when it comes to the regular season, her best game was against the New York Liberty.
On July 26, 2009, Taurasi scored 35 points against New York. She also had a career-high 13 rebounds, two assists and a steal. Taurasi made four 3-pointers in this game, and she made all 10 of her free throws.
Le’coe Willingham was the team’s second-leading scorer, as she finished with 20 points. She also had three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Cappie Pondexter and DeWanna Bonner had 10 points each. Pondexter had five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Bonner had eight rebounds and two blocks.
The Mercury won that game, as they beat the Liberty 94-88. On the other side, Shameka Christon led New York with 21 points, five rebounds and four blocks.
Phoenix was doing well at that point of the season, and they finished the season with a record of 23-11. This was indentical to their 2007 season, which was the year they beat the Detroit Shock to win their first championship.
The Mercury reached the WNBA Finals by beating the San Antonio Stars in the first round, and taking down the Los Angeles Sparks in the following round. They won both series 2-1.
Winning a championship is not easy. It is even harder to win multiple. However, with Taurasi leading the way in her MVP year, the Mercury added another championship to their legacy.
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