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PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Lisa Harrison scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Phoenix Mercury posted their third straight victory, a 64-54 triumph over the struggling Minnesota Lynx. Despite playing without Michele Timms and Maria Stepanova, both of whom are out with injuries, Phoenix (12-6) moved six games over .500 for the first time since closing the 1998 campaign at 19-11. "I don't go into the game worrying about offense," Harrison said. "I'm out there to play defense. Starting has helped my confidence as well. I didn't do anything differently tonight." Harrison did most of her damage from the free-throw line, making 12-of-13 shots as she scored well over her season average of 4.2 points per game and eclipsing her previous best of 21 on August 15 of last season against Charlotte. The Mercury enjoyed their biggest lead at 44-31 on Harrison's layup with 15:36 remaining. However, Minnesota scored 12 of the next 16 points and pulled within 47-43 when Katie Smith buried a 10-foot jumper with 8:49 left. Smith collected 19 of her 24 points in the second half but Tonya Edwards ended any chance of a comeback by Minnesota as she hit a 15-footer to put the Mercury in control, 60-50, with 1:07 to go. "We dug ourselves a huge hole and it is very hard to get yourself out of a hole in this league," Smith said. "You can't wait until you are down by 10 or 15 points to make a run. They came out ready to play and came out with a little more energy than we did." The Lynx (10-9), who tied a team record with their fourth straight loss, shot just 34 percent (19-of-56) from the field. "This was a very big game in the division," Minnesota coach Brian Agler said. "But even though we have goals to go to the playoffs, we know that we are playing a lot of young people and that turns into a lot of valuable experience for these rookies. We are taking this a day at a time." Phoenix jumped out to an 11-2 advantage just under eight minutes into the first half before Minnesota moved within 19-15 with 7:56 remaining. Harrison collected 11 points in the final 10 minutes of the first half as the Mercury opened a 36-24 halftime lead. While the Mercury were down two important players, forward Jennifer Gillom returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sprained ankle. In 30 minutes, she contributed nine points but was 3-of-11 from the field. "Every game since we had this rash of injuries, someone has stepped up," Phoenix coach Cheryl Miller said. "They're finding ways to win and they believe they can find ways to win. Hopefully, if we can get healthy and put it all together, we could be dangerous down the stretch."
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