CHICAGO -- Phoenix's last few games were close losses, so Diana Taurasi made sure the Mercury had a comfortable margin to work with by putting her stamp on the game early.

Taurasi scored 29 points Tuesday night to lead Phoenix to a 90-70 victory over the Chicago Sky and break the Mercury's four-game losing streak.

"We needed this one," said Taurasi, whose team has seen its share of recent heartbreakers.

It lost its last two games by two points and the one before that by three.

"The last couple of games have been tough."

Taurasi had 11 of her points in the second period, when Phoenix used a 13-1 run to open the quarter and took a 37-23 lead. Chicago threatened to get back into it, answering with a 9-2 run following a timeout, but Taurasi took over at the end of the half. She scored seven points in the last 1:25, including a buzzer-beating layup to put the Mercury up 50-34.

With the win, Phoenix kept itself in the Western Conference playoff race. The Mercury remained 2½ games behind Seattle for the fourth and final postseason berth with six games to play.

Taurasi has thrived under the wide-open system implemented by renowned run-and-gun coach Paul Westhead, and entered the game as the WNBA's leading scorer at 24 points per game. She credited her coach for her improved play, which included a 41-point outburst.

"Coach allows us to just go out and play the game, to go and run."

And run she did, right through the Chicago defense all night.

"She was basically doing whatever she wanted to do," said Sky reserve forward Stacey Lovelace, who led her team with 14 points. "She's a great player. You have to have great strategy against her."

While Taurasi was at times unstoppable, displaying the shooting touch and wide range of moves that made her an All-American at Connecticut, the Mercury were helped by the poor shooting of Chicago, which shot just 29.4 percent from the field. Candice Dupree, who two nights earlier set a franchise record with 25 points, was held to just two field goals and six points.

"Everyone struggled for us," said a frustrated Dave Cowens, who watched the expansion Sky lose for the 10th time in 11 games. "We were terrible."

Kelly Miller added 16 for Phoenix.