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Saturday, Jul. 22 8:00pm ET
Indiana 80, Charlotte 59 | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The final 11:44 of the second half just about sums up the season for the Charlotte Sting. Gordana Grubin scored 19 points and tied a team record for 3-pointers made as the expansion Indiana Fever put the clamps on the Sting down the stretch en route to an 80-59 victory. After falling behind by 13 points at the half, the Sting got back into it by opening the second half on a 20-9 surge to pull within 55-53 with 11:44 remaining on a 3-pointer by Dawn Staley. But following Staley's 3-pointer, Charlotte went cold from the field and made just two baskets the rest of the way. Rhonda Mapp converted a layup with 9:43 to go and E.C. Hill hit a jumper with 21 seconds remaining. Tracy Reid also made a pair of free throws with 6:01 left. The Fever took full advantage of Charlotte's misery, using a 25-6 run to close the game. Jurgita Streimikyte triggered the burst with all nine of her points. Grubin made 7-of-13 shots from the field, including making 4-of-7 attempts from 3-point range. Her four 3-pointers tied the club record, set by Monica Maxwell earlier this season. "I felt like we had good flow and good ball movement," Grubin said. "We were good from outside to inside which opened up the back door." Maxwell added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Fever, who moved 1 1/2 games in front of last-place Charlotte in the Eastern Conference while winning consecutive home games for the first time in club history. "It was a game of ebbs and flows," Indiana coach Anne Donovan said. "It was good to see us finish strong. Seeing that push at the end was a good thing." Mapp netted 18 points and Andrea Stinson 16 for Charlotte, which has the league's second worst record at 5-18, one game behind expansion Seattle. "Our shooting was not our best tonight, but some just rimmed out," said Stinson, whose club shot 36 percent (24-of-66). "But we had good shots, we just have to be able to put them down." Indiana also used a run at the end of the first half to open a lead. After Stinson made a layup to pull the Sting within two points with 4:56 left, Indiana reeled off 17 of the final 23 points take a 46-33 advantage at the break. Maxwell had 12 points and Grubin 10 over the first 20 minutes. The Fever shot 50 percent (31-of-62). | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Cleveland 76 Miami 47
Indiana 80 AUDIO/VIDEO   Kara Wolters dishes to Monica Maxwell for the basket.avi: 548 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||