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PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Miffed about being snubbed for the All-Star Game in her own building, Phoenix Mercury forward Brandy Reed took out her frustration tonight. Reed had 25 points and 10 rebounds as the Mercury moved into third place in the Western Conference with their season-high fourth straight victory, 72-64 over the Sacramento Monarchs. Reed is enjoying a spectacular season in the powerful West, averaging 16.8 points and 5.7 rebounds prior to tonight. But with the depth of talent in the conference, Reed was left off the roster for Monday's All-Star Game here. "I definitely had some extra motivation," Reed said. "Combine that with the fact that it is a great opportunity for this team to move up in the playoff picture. I came out really focused offensively. I really wanted to make a statement on the offensive end." "If there were any questions leading up to this point on that young lady's character, then the fact that she allowed this coaching staff, this organization and her teammates to be her voice and the class she handled this entire situation with showed me a classy young lady who is very poised," Mercury coach Cheryl Miller said. The Monarchs used a 12-4 spurt to close to 55-51 with 8:50 remaining. All-Star Yolanda Griffith scored five points in that run and Latasha Byears closed it on a layup. But Reed would not be denied. She scored four points during a 9-2 run and capped it with two free throws with 80 seconds left, giving Phoenix a 72-61 lead. Tonya Edwards scored 17 points for the Mercury, who moved one game ahead of the Monarchs. Phoenix is five games in back of the first-place Houston Comets. "Tonight, everybody was a little more intense and really ready to play overall," Edwards said. "The All-Star situation made have had something to do with it, but it is also another Western Conference game." Reed hit 10-of-18 from the floor and Edwards was 6-of-11 to help the Mercury shoot 48 percent (25-of-52). Kedra Holland-Corn scored 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Griffith added 11 and 16 rebounds for Sacramento, which has lost three of five. It has dropped consecutive games for the first time since a three-game skid from June 3-6. "We just didn't have our heads in the game tonight," said Holland-Corn. "I don't know why, but we can't let this loss get us down because we have Utah coming up on Saturday. I don't care home many points I scored tonight because it doesn't matter if you end up losing the game." "We didn't play well enough to win and they did," Monarchs coach Sonny Allen said. "We got back into the game and were able to cut it to four points, but we couldn't get over the hump. They deserved to win and will get them again soon." Monarchs point guard Ticha Penicheiro left with 15:16 to play due to an Achilles tendon injury. She suffered the injury in the first half and played through it but is expected to start in the All-Star Game.
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