PHOENIX — The WNBA finals was supposed to be Phoenix's offense against Indiana's defense.

How about offense vs. offense? Enough for the highest-scoring game in WNBA history.

Cappie Pondexter missed a potential winning tip-in at the fourth-quarter buzzer then scored seven of her 23 points in overtime last night to help the Mercury beat the Fever, 120-116, in Game 1 of the best-of-five series.

"Well, if you didn't like women's basketball," Phoenix coach Corey Gaines said, "I think you do now."

Penny Taylor scored 23 points and newly crowned league MVP Diana Taurasi had 22 for Phoenix.

Katie Douglas tied it with a 3-pointer for Indiana with 7.1 seconds left in regulation, then scored eight in overtime for the Fever to reach a career playoff high 30 points. Ebony Hoffman had a career-high 27 on 12-of-14 shooting.

The league's highest-scoring game had been Phoenix's 111-110 victory over Houston in triple overtime on Aug. 10, 2006.

"It was fun," Taurasi said, "kind of showing a different side of women's basketball — how high a level it is."

NOTES

• Diana Taurasi was the runaway winner for most valuable player in the WNBA, a style of victory fitting for the multitalented leader of the fast-paced Phoenix Mercury. It's the first MVP award for the four-time WNBA all-star, who led the league in scoring at 23.8 points per game in her sixth pro season. Taurasi received 27 first-place votes and 323 points overall in ballots cast by a panel that included representatives of every WNBA market and members of the national media. Runner-up Tamika Catchings of Indiana got three first-place votes and 163 points.

• Investors trying to bring a WNBA franchise to Tulsa said yesterday that they have hired Nolan Richardson to be the coach — if the city is able to secure a team.