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Diana Taurasi earned her seventh technical foul of the season in the third quarter against the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. The 2009 WNBA MVP’s complaints while the Phoenix Mercury trailed 58-30 forced one of the referees to penalize her. Taurasi finished the game but the Mercury eventually lost 97-79.
The impact of Taurasi’s seventh technical foul will extend past the Mercury-Aces game. She has now reached the quota for an automatic one-game suspension. The Olympian will sit out Phoenix’s showdown with the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday.
“Status Alert: Diana Taurasi has picked up her 7th technical foul this season. Will be suspended for Tuesday unless it is rescinded.”
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The league will review the decision but is unlikely to overturn the call. Taurasi is expected to be in street clothes for the Mercury-Dream encounter in two nights.
Phoenix had three different players called for technical fouls. The first one went to Natasha Cloud in the second quarter. Cloud complained after Aces guard Kelsey Plum allegedly pushed her off but got away without an offensive call. Taurasi’s turn came in the third quarter with 7:39 to go.
The last Mercury to earn a technical foul was Kahleah Copper, who got hers roughly three minutes after Taurasi’s infraction. All three continued to play but couldn’t lead their team to a come-from-behind victory.
Diana Taurasi should return on Thursday when the Mercury hosts the Washington Mystics. If she gets another technical foul, she will again be suspended for the Sept. 7 game against the Seattle Storm.
Diana Taurasi vowed not to tread lightly
Every technical foul after the seventh of the season will mean an automatic one-game suspension, per WNBA rules. Diana Taurasi, however, had this to say when asked by a reporter if she would hold back when talking to referees:
“No. I really don’t care about any of that. It’s every game the same way. That’s just life, nothing new to me. If it’s a game off, it’s a game off. Whatever.”
After the matchup against the Atlanta Dream, the Phoenix Mercury still has six more games. The Mercury can’t afford to miss Taurasi and Natasha Cloud, who also accumulated her seventh technical foul. Phoenix (16-17) desperately holds on to the seventh spot in the playoff race, just 4.5 games ahead of the Dream and the Chicago Sky (11-21).
