AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — A footwear faux pas is about the only thing that went wrong for the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2 of the WNBA finals.

Coach Paul Westhead mistakenly wore two different shoes to the game, much to the consternation — and amusement — of his players, who went out and equaled the biggest margin of victory in a finals game, beating the Detroit Shock 98-70 on Sunday.

Diana Taurasi bounced back from her woeful Game 1 with 30 points to help the Mercury even the five-game series, which heads back to Phoenix for Game 3 on Tuesday night and Game 4 on Thursday.

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PHOENIX — The Phoenix Mercury’s slogan for the 2007 WNBA playoffs was “Oneteam, one city, one goal.”

On Tuesday, it was one big party as the new WNBA champions and about 1,000of their fans celebrated at a U.S. Airways Center rally. A championship bannerwas unfurled as purple and gold confetti fluttered from the ceiling.

“You stuck with us through thick and thin, and there was quite a bit ofthin,” All-Star forward Penny Taylor told the crowd. “We fought for you.”

Taylor wasn’t kidding. She bore four bruises and an inch-long scratch on herarms, evidence of an intense, physical series with the Detroit Shock.

The Mercury have had a small but ardent fan base since their inception in1997. Some of the rally’s loudest cheers were reserved for Mercury assistantcoach Bridget Pettis, who scored the first basket in team history.

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PHOENIX — The newly minted WNBA champions came home to a rousing welcome inthe desert Monday.

Several hundred fans greeted the Phoenix Mercury’s commercial flight at SkyHarbor International Airport. And when the team bus pulled into the bowels ofU.S. Airways Center, managing partner Robert Sarver, general manager Ann MeyersDrysdale and several Phoenix Suns staff were there to greet it, along with afour-piece mariachi band.

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AUBURN HILLS, MICHIGAN (TICKER) — The Phoenix Mercury on Sunday won their first WNBA championship with a 108-92 victory over the Detroit Shock.

PHOENIX — The WNBA assessed Detroit forward Plenette Pierson with aflagrant foul I on Thursday for her Game 3 altercation with Phoenix’s PennyTaylor.

The penalty was announced before Detroit and Phoenix met in Game 4 of theWNBA Finals with the Shock looking to win their second straight title.

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A group trying to bring a WNBA team to Colorado saidTuesday that it hadn’t found enough interest from investors to continue pursuinga team for 2008.

Triple Crown Sports left the door open for the future, though.

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PHOENIX — The Detroit Shock tried to keep up with the Phoenix Mercury’sfast-paced style in Game 2 of the WNBA finals. After a 28-point loss, they knowthat’s not how to win the best-of-five series.

“The shooting wasn’t there and we were trying to play their pace of thegame, taking the first quick shot,” Deanna Nolan, Detroit’s leading scorer,said Monday. “We have to be patient and run our style.”

Phoenix’s 98-70 victory in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Saturday evened thebest-of-5 series at a game apiece. Game 3 is Tuesday.

The Mercury like to run — as coach Paul Westhead has preached for decades incollege and the NBA.

Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said it’s more about the intangibles.

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Detroit Shock forward Cheryl Ford was in the startinglineup for Saturday’s Game 2 of the WNBA finals against the Phoenix Mercury.

The four-time All-Star missed Detroit’s 108-100 Game 1 win with a left kneeinjury.

Ford, the daughter of NBA great Karl Malone, missed the last 13 games of theregular season with the knee problem and has been playing in pain during theplayoffs.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Chicago Sky guard Armintie Price was named the WNBArookie of the year Saturday, and Dan Hughes of the San Antonio Silver Stars washonored as the league’s top coach.

Price, who was drafted third overall out of Mississippi, started all 34games and finished third among first-year players in scoring (7.9 points pergame) and assists (2.9 a game).

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NEW YORK (Ticker) - Dan Hughes of the San Antonio Silver Stars was named the WNBA Coach of the Year on Saturday, becoming the first individual to capture the honor with more than one team.

Hughes, who also won the award with the Cleveland Rockers in 2001, received 20 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The Phoenix Mercury’s Paul Westhead placed second with 14 votes, and Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Shock was third with six.

It was the second-closet margin in the 11-year history of the award.

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