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NEW YORK -- Diana Taurasi tends to play her best when the most is on the line.The star guard scored 30 points and Brittney Griner added 22 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks to help the eighth-seeded Phoenix Mercury beat the No. 3 New York Liberty 101-94 on Saturday night. Taurasi is 13-3 in WNBA elimination games in her storied career, including a 6-0 mark on the road.Im not afraid of it. Its a challenge. Its fun, she said. When you go on the road, especially here at the Garden. These fans are so thirsty they want a championship so bad. We came in the underdog. Today was a whole lot of fun.The Mercury will head to Minnesota for the semifinals, which is a five-game series as opposed to the single elimination games that Phoenix won in the opening two rounds of the postseason.Its going to be hard. They are the best in the league right now, Taurasi said. They are the defending champs. We know what they do. They know what we do. Its going to be a battle of wills more than anything. Right now were finding our groove. Finding who we are.Just as they did during their first-round playoff game, Phoenix players Mistie Bass and Kelsey Bone kneeled during the playing of the national anthem . Liberty guard Brittany Boyd sat on the bench with her head bowed. She also said she did that in the final few games of the regular season.I dont want to stand up. I choose not to stand up and I sit down and pray, said Boyd, who wore a Colin Kaepernick jersey into the arena and had it hanging in her locker. Colin (Kaepernick) and his message about social injustice going on in this country today is something I believe needs change. This wasnt the first game I sat down for the national anthem. I dont agree with some of the stuff thats going on. This is me using my platform.With Phoenix clinging to a two-point lead early in the fourth quarter Taurasi scored five straight points in a 10-2 run that gave them an 84-76 advantage. New York refused to quit, hitting back-to-back 3s to get within 84-82. But thats as close as the Liberty could get as they came up empty on the next few possessions. New York trailed 90-86 with 1:29 left before Taurasi hit a 3-pointer from the wing, pumping her fists at midcourt after it swished through the net that virtually sealed the victory.Phoenix was in control in the first half as the Mercury led by 15 points in the second quarter thanks to the play of Penny Taylor, who finished with 20 points. Trailing 52-41 at the break, the Liberty opened the second half on a 13-2 run capped by Tina Charles 3-pointer to tie it at 54. They trailed 68-67 after three quarters and the game was tied at 74 after Epiphanny Princes 3-pointer with 7:23 left in the final period.Tanisha Wright scored 21 points and Tina Charles added 19 to lead New York. The loss also marked the end of Swin Cashs career. The 15-year WNBA player announced during the season that she would retire after the Libertys season ended.Its tough to completely reflect right now, but Im really proud of this team, Cash said. Took some bumps along the way, injuries. We set a really solid foundation on how hard you have to work and what it takes to get to that next level.---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinbergCheap Womens Nike Air Max Shoes . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Nike Air Max Shoes Outlet . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. http://www.cheapairmaxshoes.com/ . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Nike Air Max Shoes China . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. Discount Nike Air Max Shoes . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season.BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON, France -- Defending champion Chris Froome took his rivals by surprise with a daring downhill attack that earned him the race leaders yellow jersey on the eighth stage of the Tour de France on Saturday.Leading at the top of the final climb of the Tours second Pyrenean stage, a tough 184-kilometer ride from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon, he attacked when least expected on the grueling Col de Peyresourde.It surprised myself too, this was the first time in my career that I attacked in a downhill, I did not believe I was able to win like this, said Froome, who used a left jab to push aside a fan running too close to him before his stunning descent.In his two wins at cyclings biggest event, in 2013 and 2015, the 31-year-old Team Sky leader had asserted his authority on the race in the first mountain-top finish.Given that track record, the other leading contenders didnt expect Froome to make a move before Sundays stage to the ski resort of Andorre-Arcalis.It really was just a bit of a gamble, Froome. I thought, `I feel good, I want to give this a try, and I would like to see if this pays off. And Im glad it did.Thanks to the hard work of his teammates at the front of the peloton in the four major climbs of the day, Froome arrived in perfect condition at Peyresourde. After a first attack by Frenchman Romain Bardet fizzled out, Froome counterattacked but failed to drop Nairo Quintana in the first skirmishes among the leading contenders.The climb was also marked by Froomes spat with the spectator, who got a little too close for comfort.Tour spokesman Fabrice Tiano said later that the race jury had met and decided to fine Froome 200 Swiss francs ($203) for inappropriate behavior.Then Froome went all out in the downhill, reaching speeds close to 90 kilometers per hour. The style remained unorthodox, but it was brilliantly efficient.Crouched over his handlebars for extra aerodynamics, he opened a 20-second lead and used his time trial qualities to resist the chase, posting a sixth career stage win on the Tour.It scared me, Team Sky director Dave Brailsford said. Today he won the race rather than the other losing it. He is a true racer.Tour director Christian Prudhomme was also among those praising Froomes unexpected move, lauding his great panache.Its not the kind of praise Froome is used to getting, having often been criticized in the French media for his riding style, despite having won the Tour twice.The other bad news for his rivals in 2016 was the impressive collective strength displayed by Sky.dddddddddddd The British outfit set the pace at the front and prevented Froomes challengers from trying their luck in hot temperatures, and increased the tempo on the final climb.This big Sky team made our life tough, said Bardet, who lags 23 seconds behind Froome overall, in the same time as Quintana, Fabio Aru and Tejay Van Garderen. And we saw a great Chris Froome, who deserves his victory.Froome gritted his teeth as he crossed the line, raising both arms in celebration then pumping his right fist emphatically.Dan Martin, an Irish rider with Etixx-Quick Step, won a sprint for second, crossing 13 seconds behind, and Joaquim Rodriguez, a Spaniard with Katusha, finished third.Froome leads fellow countryman Adam Yates and Rodriguez by 16 seconds in the overall standings.Although it did not feature a mountain-top finish, the stage took the peloton on a hard ride including the legendary Col du Tourmalet, a punishing 19-kilometer climb at an average gradient of 7.4 percent.After losing more than three minutes to the main contenders in Fridays first Pyrenean stage, Frenchman Thibaut Pinot attacked at the foothill of the mountain pass.Pinot was joined by Alberto Contadors Tinkoff teammate, Rafal Majka, and time trial specialist Tony Martin as riders climbed the Tourmalet for the 84th time in the Tours history.Pinot stepped up the pace in the final kilometer of climbing, cheered by fans lining the road, but was dropped in the Col de Val Louron-Azet. Movistar and Sky continued to push and Pinot couldnt match the frenetic pace imposed by the peloton, falling even further out of contention.After Martin and Majka were also reeled in, Michael Morkov became the first rider to abandon the race, a week after injuring his right leg in a crash during the first stage in Normandy.With all the favorites still together in the main pack, Team Sky riders Mikel Nieve and Geraint Thomas spent long spells at the front and led the peloton in the fast downhill where Wilco Kelderman crashed on a hairpin alongside his Lotto-Jumbo teammate George Bennett. Both men remounted and continued riding on the final ascent.Former Tour winner Alberto Contadors struggles continued and the Spaniard lost 1:41 to Froome, dropping to 20th overall, 3:12 back.---AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report. ' ' '