Lynx winning streak melts under the Sun
Margo Dydek scored a season-high 17 points, leading four Connecticut players in double figures, and the Sun pulled away in the second half to beat the Minnesota Lynx, 72-53, in Minneapolis yesterday.
Katie Douglas added 14 points, Nykesha Sales had 12 and Taj McWilliams-Franklin 10 for the Sun (14-4), who improved to 12-1 against the Western Conference. Lindsay Whalen, the all-time leading scorer at the University of Minnesota, had 6 points.
Katie Smith, who did not score in the final 29 minutes, and Amanda Lassiter scored 11 points each to lead Minnesota (10-9), which had its six-game home winning streak halted. Nicole Ohlde added 10 points.
The Sun led, 49-34, early in the second half before Minnesota cut the deficit to 51-44 on a pair of free throws by Ohlde with 12:21 remaining.
However, Connecticut responded with a runner by Dydek, a lay-up by McWilliams-Franklin and jumpers by Douglas and Jennifer Derevjanik to increase the lead to 15 points with 9:43 remaining.
Three minutes later the lead was 23 points (68-45).
Minnesota, which shot a season-low 29.3 percent, went more than 10 minutes in the second half without a basket, hitting just three free throws in that span. Connecticut shot 50 percent from the field.
Fever 59, Shock 58 -- Tamika Catchings scored 21 points to lead Indiana past host Detroit for the second time in three days.
Kelly Miller added 10 points for the Fever, winners of three straight including a 62-57 victory at home against the Shock Friday night.
Cheryl Ford had 18 points for Detroit (7-10), loser of three straight -- and 10 of 13 since opening the season with four wins.
Indiana (11-6) broke open a tie game with an 11-2 run to take a 37-28 lead four minutes into the second half. The Fever stretched the lead to 47-37 on Deanna Jackson's free throws with 10:15 remaining, before Detroit started chipping away.
Detroit pulled within 2 (51-49) with 3:50 left, but five missed free throws slowed its rally.
Comets 67, Sting 55 -- Sheryl Swoopes scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the final 10 minutes, helping visiting Houston break open a close game and defeat Charlotte.
Swoopes, who came in averaging 18.5 points a game, was quiet in the first half, scoring only 2 points. But with the game tied at 49, Swoopes began to take over.
After missing the second half of a one-and-one, Swoopes got her own rebound and put it back to give the Comets a 3-point lead. Two possessions later, Swoopes stole a pass at the top of the key and drove the length of the floor for a layup and drew a foul. Again, she missed the free throw, but she came up with a loose ball and scored again to extend the lead to 58-49.
Swoopes added another driving layup and two jumpers to seal the win.
