Comets survive losing
skid, fall to New York
WNBA Notebook
Crystal J. Doucette
The New York Liberty and the Houston Comets
entered the Compaq Center on Saturday for a rematch of three WNBA championship
games.
Both holding second place in their respective
conferences, the Liberty was looking to halt a four-game slide and the
Comets were defending their new court from its
third consecutive home loss. But the Liberty
decided its time had come, edging Houston, 64-61.
The Comets jumped out to an early 10-2
lead in the first three minutes of the game, but the Liberty rallied with
a trey from Crystal Robinson and held on to the Comets'
tails.
Houston entered the locker room up by four
and took a 10-point lead early in the second half. But the Liberty held
on as Sue Wicks and Tari Phillips made it to the
inside and the New York defense forced
Houston pointguard Coquese Washington and her team to rush their shots
before the shot clock ran out.
Tina Thompson, who joined Los Angeles'
Lisa Leslie as the only two players in the league with more than 1,000
career rebounds, squared a ball and Phillips' jaw in
the second half. Phillips later took a
charge from Thompson, which sent Phillips to the line for two of her 14
points.
Liberty guard Teresa Weatherspoon dished
seven assists in the afternoon contest, including Robinson's three-pointer
with 19 seconds left to play to give New York a
one-point lead.
The Comets had two possessions after the
shot, but Thompson missed both of her shots.
Robinson led the Liberty with 15 points
(nine beyond the arc). Wicks followed with 14 points and eight rebounds
on one of her best nights on the court.
Comet Janeth Arcain led the game with 19
points, four steals and eight rebounds. Thompson hit 14 points along with
nine boards and Washington followed with 11
points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The mighty have fallen
The regular-season Western Conference title
is locked up as the Los Angeles Sparks stride through their schedule following
a 12-game winning streak, including an
88-83 win over the Portland Fire on Saturday
and an 80-78 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs on Wednesday.
Los Angeles took the win over Sacramento
without leading scorer and rebounder Leslie, who missed the Wednesday matchup
after hyperextending her knee in a July
22 win over the Seattle Storm, 85-79.
Leslie put up 31 points and 11 rebounds in the game against Portland.
The Sparks managed to hold off Sacramento
despite nine clutch three-pointers from the Monarchs, five of which flew
from the fingers of guard Kedra Holland-Corn,
who led Sacramento with 21 points. Yolanda
Griffith hit a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Last season's regular-season and playoff
Western title went to the Houston Comets, who now trail the Sparks by more
than five games.
The Comets, who've never lost more than
two games in a row in league history, ended their most recent two-game
skid with a 51-46 road victory over the Minnesota
Lynx. Thompson put in her ninth double-double
of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
But they followed the road win with a home
loss Tuesday to the Utah Starzz, 76-67.
Comet Arcain shot a career-high 29 points
on 12-of-17 shooting, but Utah's rookie Marie Ferdinand led the victory
with 16 points on seven-of-eight shooting, including
two from beyond the arc.
In the East, the defending title-holders
were also facing tough times after the All-Star break.
The Liberty's eight-game home winning streak
was snapped by a hot Miami Sol on July 22 in Madison Square Garden, 68-52.
With the Liberty dropping four in a row,
the Cleveland Rockers are tops in the East after a seven-game run -- cut
short by the Indiana Fever on Friday, 67-63. It was the
first home game loss of the season for
Cleveland; it was Cleveland's first home loss since July 1999.
Before falling to the Fever, the Rockers
ended the Sol's seven-game blaze with a 52-48 overtime win Wednesday in
Cleveland, Ohio.
Cleveland made up for Friday's loss by
topping the Detroit Shock, 57-50, on Saturday in Detroit, Mich. The Liberty
is now only two and one-half games behind the Rockers.
Do or die
The 2001 WNBA playoffs are close at hand
as August approaches and the economy teams fight for first-class berths.
Holding second place in the West with a
two-game lead over the Sacramento Monarchs, the Comets look like solid
playoff contenders. Sacramento is still reeling from
Wednesday's loss to Los Angeles, which
puts it in dangerous range of the Utah Starzz and the Portland Fire.
In the East, the Liberty is looking out
for Miami, which is only 1 1/2 games behind in third place.
The Charlotte Sting is in fourth place
in the East at 3 1/2 games behind the Sol; but the Orlando Miracle is only
1 1/2 games behind the Sting. These two contenders
aren't as worried about the stragglers
as the teams in the West, but the Fever has a young talented squad with
surprising nights, as the Rockers found out the hard way.
