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Sunday, Jul. 9 6:00pm ET
Comets improve to league-best 18-2 | |||||
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BOX SCORE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Call it a lesson in experience. The veteran Houston Comets saw an opening and grabbed it with gusto. The inexperienced Minnesota Lynx saw their opening disappear in a cloud of missed field goals and missed passes. Guess which team is the three-time WNBA champion and which one is struggling to make the playoffs? Houston defeated Minnesota 70-60 Sunday to run its winning streak to nine games. The Comets, whose 18-2 record is the best in the league, held the Lynx without a basket for a seven-minute span despite dressing just nine players. But when the players are such established talents like Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson, numbers don't mean much. "We're a veteran team," Copper said. "We know how to close it out when we get the opening." Cooper, in particular, seized the moment. She had 17 points and seven assists as part of a balanced Comet attack. Swoopes, the league leader in scoring with a 21.3 points per game average, scored 19 despite missing four minutes in the second half with a hip injury. Tina Thompson added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Janeth Arcain had 12 points for the Comets. Katie Smith, who ranks just behind Swoopes in the league's scoring picture, led Minnesota with 18 points. "We weren't under control early," Houston coach Van Chancellor said. "But we have some of the best players who have ever played the game and they responded well. It was a hard-fought game because Minnesota is a difficult team to score against. But we found a way." For a while, it appeared Minnesota would head on a four-game road trip this week on an upnote instead of a three-game losing streak. The Lynx rallied from an early deficit to lead most of the first half. Betty Lennox, who scored 14 points, led the early charge with 10 of her team's first 13 points. But the Comets went on a 12-2 run to end the first half and lead 34-29 at intermission. When Swoopes got caught in traffic and fell on her hip early in the second half, another opening seemed imminent. But Cooper, the league's three-time scoring champ, made a pair of baskets and set up Thompson for two more as the Comets sprinted to a 43-30 lead five minutes into the half. Minnesota never got closer than seven points the rest of the way. Lennox failed to score in the second half before leaving the game with a back injury. "I don't question our effort," Lynx coach Brian Agler said. "However, we made some mental mistakes and a couple of times, we fell asleep on defense. Do that against Houston and they have a lot of people that can exploit you." Smith saw a silver lining and discouraging note for the Lynx. "We hung in there and played hard," Smith said. "But we weren't real sharp when we needed to be. Right now, we're not mentally tough enough but maybe two weeks on the road will help that." Minnesota fell to 10-8 and is 1½ games out of fourth place, the final playoff spot in the Western Division. They start a four-game road trip Tuesday against Phoenix, the current fourth place team. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Orlando 68 Detroit 62
Houston 70
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