PHOENIX - It was one of those games that neither team should really have to lose. 

Phoenix's Diana Taurasi is defended by Indiana's Tamika Catchings.  Photo by Jamie Hines.

Game One of the 2009 WNBA Finals went beyond the expectations of the experts. Touted as a contest between the best in offense and the best in defense, the game turned out to be a lot of one and very little of the other. That is, until it counted.

The bottom line result was a 120-116 overtime thriller with the victory going to the Phoenix Mercury over the visiting Indiana Fever. 

Phoenix was expected to provide plenty of offensive power, having set a new league record as the most prolific team in the regular season with a 92.8 points per game average and 93.5 in the playoffs. It stands to reason that the Mercury would be the highest scoring team, being led by the league leader in scoring, guard Diana Taurasi. 

Taurasi was announced as the 2009 WNBA Most Valuable Player prior to the game. She and teammate forward Cappie Pondexter were named to the All-WNBA First Team last week. Pondexter was fourth in the league in scoring during the regular season.

Indiana, on the other hand, entered the Finals holding their playoff opponents to an average of 75.2 points per game.  Leading the Fever’s defensive prowess is forward Tamika Catchings, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.  Catchings was also selected to the All-WNBA First Team as well as the All-Defensive Team, an honor she shares with teammate and guard Tully Bevilaqua.

So the stage was set for a duel between offense and defense to see which team could impose their will on the other.  The result was the highest-scoring game in the league’s history, so it seems that offense won the first round.  What was unexpected, at least by many, was Indiana's ability to keep up with the high-scoring, high-octane and explosive offense often seen with the Mercury. 

Speaking to the media after the game, Fever coach Lin Dunn responded to questions about her team’s offensive abilities. 

When asked if she knew her team had that much offense in them, Dunn said, “Sure I did. When the ball goes in we’re really good. … We got points from five people in double figures. We shot 55 percent from the field.”

Fever guard Katie Douglas had a postseason career-high and game-high 30 points, including a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left in regulation that tied the game and eight of her team’s 11 points in the overtime period.  

Forward Ebony Hoffman scored a career-high 27 points for Indiana.  Also in double figures for the Fever were center Tammy Sutton-Brown with 19, Bevilaqua with 14, and rookie guard Briann January, off the bench for 11.

Forward Penny Taylor kept the Mercury in the game early coming off the bench and scoring 18 of her 23 points in the first half. Also coming off the bench for the Mercury adding 15 points was the 2009 Sixth Woman of the Year, rookie guard DeWanna Bonner.  The Mercury bench outscored the Fever bench, 45-18.

Taurasi had 22 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, four of them in the overtime period. Center Tangela Smith and guard Temeka Johnson added double-digit points for the Mercury with 14 and 13 respectively.

The teams exchanged numerous baskets during the overtime period but it was the Mercury who got the defensive stops when it counted the most, during the final minute of the extra period.   Pondexter, who had been relatively quiet offensively, opened up and scored seven of her 23 points in overtime, including the final five points in the game.

"I think the key was getting defensive stops and rebounding,” Pondexter said.  “You could see in overtime Katie Douglas took the game over and the key was stopping her and getting the rebounds. I think we did a great job in overtime doing that."

Game Two of the best-of-five series will be in Phoenix on Thursday and airs on ESPN2.