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Wednesday, Jul. 26 10:00pm ET
Balance sends Sacramento past Portland | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Tangela Smith scored 20 points, Ruthie Bolton-Holifield had 19 and Yolanda Griffith grabbed 14 rebounds as the Sacramento Monarchs held off the Portland Fire 73-70 Wednesday night. With a victory by Phoenix, Sacramento stayed a half-game behind the Mercury for the third spot in the Western Conference playoff race. Sophia Witherspoon scored 22 points for the Fire, and Sylvia Crawley had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The game was tight throughout the second half, but Sacramento took the lead for good on a leaning 3-pointer by Bolton-Holifield. Her two free throws gave the Monarchs their biggest lead of the half, 62-57, with 5:05 remaining. Portland closed to a point, and to 68-66 on a short jumper by Crawley with 30 seconds left. But Griffith, who scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, hit two free throws with 26.4 seconds left to preserve the victory. The Monarchs improved to 6-0 this season against expansion teams. The Fire, opening a five-game homestand, fell to 1-4 since the All-Star game after winning three of four before the break. Sacramento shot terribly early on, but two consecutive driving layups by Bolton-Holifield capped an 8-0 run to put the Monarchs up 24-18. Portland made a couple of defensive stops, and rookie Lynn Pride put back a miss and hit an open 3-pointer to give the Fire a 25-24 lead. Smith, who missed five of her first six shots, made two difficult inside baskets for a 30-27 halftime lead. The Monarchs, who lead the WNBA in steals at 10.2 a game, had 12. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Charlotte 87 Washington 80
Sacramento 73
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