Sun melt down vs. Liberty

Shameka Christon scored 22 points as the New York Liberty overcame a 17-point deficit and beat the Connecticut Sun, 76-73, last night at Uncasville, Conn.

Ashley Battle added 18 points to help the Liberty (7-4) win for the second time in their last six games.

Katie Douglas and Nykesha Sales scored 17 points apiece and Asjha Jones added 14 for Connecticut (4-7), which lost its fifth straight.

Sales hit two free throws to give the Sun their final lead at 71-70 with 4:20 remaining. Christon, who scored 9 points in the fourth quarter, made a layup just more than a minute later to give New York the lead for good and then hit a jumper with 2:01 left.

Lindsay Whalen's layup with 11 seconds remaining pulled the Sun within a point, but Battle made two free throws to push New York's lead back to 3. However, Douglas missed two free throws with three seconds left, and the Liberty's Loree Moore grabbed the rebound.

The Sun opened the game with a 17-0 run as the Liberty missing their first seven shots. Connecticut capitalized on New York's mistakes, scoring 9 points off four turnovers in the opening minutes.

Christon broke the scoring drought for New York with 4:08 remaining in the first quarter.

Moore and Christon hit 3-pointers and the Liberty cut the lead to 22-11 at the end of the period.

New York used a 19-5 run to pull to 25-22 with just over four minutes left in the half. The Sun extended their lead to 29-22, but were unable to hold off a surging Liberty squad.

A basket by Battle capped New York's comeback, tying the score at 33 with 42.8 seconds left in the first half.

Sun forward Jones responded with a layup to give Connecticut the lead at the break.

Another 3-pointer by Christon just over a minute into the second half gave the Liberty their first lead, 38-37.

Mystics 106, Mercury 101 -- Alana Beard had a season-high 29 points and DeLisha Milton-Jones added 22 to lead Washington at Phoenix.

Bernice Mosby had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Beard added six rebounds and five assists to help Washington (2-9) set a franchise scoring record. The Mystics, whose only other win this season came last Wednesday at home against Phoenix, topped the previous mark of 97 set in 2002.

Diana Taurasi scored 25 points to lead the Mercury (7-6), who had won three of four. Penny Taylor added 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists before fouling out with 3:40 left, and Tangela Smith had 20 points and seven rebounds.

Silver Stars 80, Lynx 73 -- Sophia Young scored a career-high 24 points and Becky Hammon added 18 to help host San Antonio over Minnesota.

Young hit 11 of 16 shots for her second straight 20-point game for San Antonio (6-4). Erin Buescher had 13 points and Vickie Johnson 10.

Seimone Augustus scored 27 points to lead Minnesota (3-10), which committed 19 turnovers.

Shock 87, Storm 71 -- Katie Smith had 23 points and Deanna Nolan scored 18 to lead visiting Detroit.

Nolan hit a 3-pointer with three minutes left in the third quarter to give the defending champion Shock (9-1) a 20-point lead.

Detroit held Lauren Jackson to just 11 points -- 12 below her average. She shot 5 for 11 from the field in 31 minutes and spent part of the game on the bench in foul trouble.

Comets 74, Sparks 64 -- Michelle Snow had 21 points and Tina Thompson added 20 to lead host Houston to its first win of the season.

Snow also had nine rebounds for the Comets (1-10), who never trailed in the game and avenged a 74-71 loss to the Sparks June 13 at Los Angeles.

Houston used a 9-3 run to start the fourth quarter to pull away for Comets coach Karleen Thompson's first win. The victory also ended franchise's first 10-game losing streak. Houston did not lose more than four games in a row at any stretch during the league's first 10 years.