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Monday, Jun. 26 7:30pm ET
Thomson, Swoopes lead Comets to victory | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ticker) -- Tina Thompson continued her red-hot play with 19 points and Sheryl Swoopes celebrated her selection to the Olympic team with 14 as the Houston Comets defeated the Orlando Miracle 70-58 for their third straight win. Thompson scored five points during a 15-2 run, capping it with a 3-pointer with 3:11 remaining as the Comets opened a 65-48 lead. They cruised to their sixth road win in seven tries this season. Thompson, often the forgotten player among Houston's "Big Three," has led the team in scoring each of the last three contests with 23.3 points per contest. She was 8-of-15 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc as the Comets shot 47 percent (28-of-60). "We never relax," Thompson said. "That's one of the most important things with this team. Whether we're down or out, we continue to put on the pressure and that has helped us to be very successful. In the offseason, I worked on my shot quite a bit and that has opened up the floor for me." "Tina has really worked hard during the offseason," Comets coach Van Chancellor added. "She has added more dimensions to her game. She can go out there now and do a lot of good things." Swoopes was 6-of-10 from the floor one day after becoming the 12th and final player named to the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in September in Sydney. She originally said she did not have an interest in going but changed her mind. "I'm excited about making the team," Swoopes said. "Anytime you have an opportunity to represent your country is a tremendous honor. I feel honored. Of all the players they could have chosen, they chose me." The Comets maintained a one-game lead over second-place Los Angeles in the Western Conference and are not expected to lose ground when they face league-worst Charlotte (2-11) on Wednesday. Nykesha Sales and Taj McWilliams scored 14 points apiece for the Miracle, who have lost three of their last five and fell for the first time in their last three home contests. They are one-half game behind idle Cleveland for first place in the East. "We just had some breakdowns and they capitalized on them," McWilliams said. "We had 13 turnovers, which is really low for us, but they capitalized on them. They had 17 points off our turnovers, and that's the game right there." "We're not scared of any team in this league," Sales added. "Whoever come in here, we're going to play our hardest. We had some really good shots that just didn't go down, but our defense was really good." First-round pick Cintia Dos Santos scored 10 points and point guard Shannon Johnson had 10 and 11 rebounds for Orlando, which shot 39 percent (26-of-66) from the field and missed all nine 3-pointers. The Comets gained a small measure of revenge after the Miracle handed them their only home loss last season. The road team has won all three encounters in the series and this was their lone meeting this year. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard Comets' Swoopes completes women's U.S. Olympic team
RECAPS Los Angeles 74 Washington 72
Houston 70
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