PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) A team fighting to avoid futility beat a a team fighting in vain to avoid an early offseason.

Gordana Grubin scored 17 points, and Susanna Bonfiglio added 10 as the Phoenix Mercury broke a WNBA-record 21-game road losing streak with a 73-70 victory over the Portland Fire on Sunday night.

The Mercury's last road win was July 27, 2001, at Seattle. Phoenix (11-20) avoided becoming the first team in league history to go 0-16 on the road.

"We are really happy, because it was so bad," Bonfiglio said. "Coach told us to never give up."

DeMya Walker led the Fire with 10 points. Portland was eliminated from the playoff race earlier Sunday when Seattle beat Utah to clinch the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"I think defensively we had a lot of breakdowns, and we didn't capitalize on the opportunities that we had," Walker said.

Said Portland coach Linda Hargrove: "Defensively we weren't sharp. We didn't play the kind of team defense that we can play. We had a lot of key mistakes late in transition."

The Fire (16-16) finished with the best record in their three-year history, and improved by five games over last year. But they closed the season losing four straight and seven of nine, a disturbingly similar pattern to last year when they lost 10 straight to close out the year.

"It was just meant to be," guard Tamicha Jackson said.

Phoenix, playing without leading scorer Jennifer Gillom who was a late scratch with a sore left knee, built a seven-point halftime lead with a 10-0 run midway through the first half.

"They played very, very well," Hargrove said. "Sometimes when you have your star out of the game, that's when your team picks up and really pulls together."

Grubin, who scored her 1,000th career point, assumed the role of go-to player in Gillom's absence and scored 12 first-half points. Slobodanka Tuvic, who started in place of Gillom, grabbed eight rebounds, seven in the first 20 minutes, and scored nine points.

"I just tried to focus on my game," Grubin said. "Jennifer is a dangerous player offensively. Of course we were missing her a lot, but that happens sometimes and you just have to go and focus on your game."

Said Mercury coach Linda Sharp: "Anytime our team gets a win on the road, and without our leading scorer, it's great. I thought everyone contributed and played well. We had a really good effort defensively."

Alisa Burras had nine points and seven rebounds for Portland. Sylvia Crawley also had nine points. Portland hurt itself at the line, going 15-for-22, and with turnovers, giving up 17 which led to 22 Mercury points.

Lisa Harrison pulled down her 500th career rebound. She finished with eight points and one rebound. Every Mercury player that saw action scored. Phoenix shot 53.4 percent.

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