Monica Wright scores 32 for Minnesota

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS

Injuries forced Minnesota Lynx rookie Monica Wright into a starting role for the first six games of her WNBA career. In game seven, she found coming off the bench to her liking.

On Tuesday night, Wright scored a career-best 32 points and the Lynx finally won a home game, beating the Phoenix Mercury 92-82.

“Obviously Monica prefers to come off the bench. That was her statement today,” joked Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. “It’s a start. It’s one game and it felt really good. We wanted to send a message to Phoenix and to the rest of the league that we’re OK and we’re going to be there at the end.”

Diana Taurasi had 21 to lead Phoenix (2-3), but the Mercury star also lost her cool and was hit with a technical foul in the fourth quarter.