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Friday, Jul. 7 9:00pm ET
Azzi shows leadership along with rust | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Jennifer Azzi was back in uniform. Too bad for the Utah Starzz it didn't guarantee a victory. Edwina Brown made four free throws in the final 14.1 seconds as the Detroit Shock beat Utah 73-69 on Friday night, spoiling Azzi's regular-season debut with the Starzz. Astou Ndiaye-Diatta led the Shock with 18 points, while Oksana Zakauluzhnaya added 15 on 6-for-9 shooting. Elena Tornikidou scored 12 points and Wendy Palmer had 12 rebounds as Detroit ended a three-game losing streak. Azzi, acquired from the Shock in April for two first-round draft picks in 2001, was playing her first regular-season game in Utah after breaking a bone in her hand during a preseason game. "I can't stand to lose, so that's the hard part," Azzi said. "But it felt good to be out on the court. It really is hard to step in in the middle of the season. I feel like I only have three-quarters of my game, but the rest will come with time." Despite being called for a technical with 4:54 to play, Azzi kept the Starzz steady in the closing minutes. But with Utah trailing 71-69, she missed a jumper from the left side of the lane with 6.5 seconds left. "I saw the shot was there," she said. "I felt like I got bumped, but apparently that's not the case." Brown also stole a pass from Azzi to Adrienne Goodson with 16 seconds remaining, denying Utah a chance to take the lead. Fans were eager to check out Azzi, and they cheered her much of the night. She showed no effects of the injury, rallying the Starzz from a 12-point deficit with 15:48 to play. "Jennifer Azzi is great for the game of basketball," Detroit coach Nancy Lieberman-Cline said. "She is a superstar." It was tied at 65 with 4:18 remaining after two free throws by Natalie Williams, who led the Starzz with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Goodson added 21 points for Utah. Azzi, the leader of Stanford's NCAA title team in 1990 and the point guard on the gold-medal winning U.S. squad in the Atlanta Olympics, finished with four points, five assists and three turnovers in 31 minutes. "I saw a lot of good things," Utah coach Fred Williams said. "It's going to take her four or five games to get into the swing. Tonight was a tough test going after her old team. "She's really a floor leader. She sees the whole floor and puts people where they need to be." Azzi was whistled for the technical, only the second of her professional career, by referee Bob Trammell while pleading for a foul call on Utah's offensive end with 4:54 to play. It was an emotional game for the Starzz. Coach Williams received a technical and was ejected after arguing while Utah trailed 47-35 five minutes into the second half. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Miami 49 Cleveland 46
Detroit 73 AUDIO/VIDEO   Teresa Weatherspoon's no-look pass leads to a Tari Phillips hoop.avi: 464 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||