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Saturday, Jul. 29 8:00pm ET
Utah 79, Indiana 71 | |||||
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BOX SCORE
SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- Adrienne Goodson scored 29 points to set a career high for the second straight game as the Utah Starzz posted a 79-71 victory over the Indiana Fever. The 6-foot guard had 27 points in Wednesday's 84-77 triumph over the Cleveland Rockers. Utah (15-12) moved three games over .500 for the first time in franchise history and pulled within two games of idle Sacramento for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Starzz trail third-place Phoenix by 2 1/2 games. "All that career-high stuff doesn't matter," Goodson said. "We are just trying to win games. Every time we have a game where someone is getting a career high on this team, I think it's because in the past this team has done so poorly that it is easier to get all these kinds of records. "We are trying not to get all caught up in it," Goodson continued. "Everybody is actually kind of laughing when they get a career high because it is incredible. Every night, someone is getting a career high." Natalie Williams added 22 points for Utah, which opened its biggest lead at 73-60 with 59 seconds remaining. Williams, who is averaging over 22 points in her last five contests, also grabbed 15 rebounds after pulling down a team-record 19 on Wednesday. "We've got to continue to win," Williams said. "There is nothing we can do, except win and hope that Sacramento and Phoenix lose some games." Utah has won three straight and six of its last eight, but is the only one of the league's eight charter teams not to make the playoffs. Alicia Thompson scored 18 points and Chantel Tremitiere 12 for Indiana (7-19), which has lost five of its last seven games and 10 of 14 on the road this season. "I think we've been competitive," Indiana coach Anne Donovan said. "We've been in a lot of close games that we'd like to have over again. I think with a lot more confidence and a little more experience, some of those games might have turned out differently." "We don't think of ourselves as an expansion team anymore," Tremitiere added. "I think that's a label that everybody else puts on us. We've beaten teams that aren't expansion teams." The Fever led 13-7 early in the first half, but Goodson and Williams scored five points apiece in a decisive 19-3 spurt that gave Utah a 26-16 advantage with 9:27 left in the half. The Starzz never trailed thereafter. "I think Goodie has been in rhythm and has been really focused out there," Utah coach Fred Williams said. "She has been slashing toward the basket a lot more in her drives. It really started in practice. She is just really playing right now." Indiana closed to 59-57 on Thompson's two foul shots with 4:57 to play, but Goodson's three-point play and Margo Dydek's layup gave Utah a 64-57 margin with 3:13 remaining. Utah only shot 42 percent (25-of-60) from the field, but made 28-of-33 free throws and outrebounded Cleveland, 45-29. Indiana shot only 38 percent (25-of-66), but stayed in the game by making 10-of-18 3-pointers. Utah was just 1-of-5 beyond the arc, outscoring the Fever 38-14 in the paint. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Los Angeles 84 Houston 74
Utah 79 AUDIO/VIDEO   Natalie Williams puts in the loose ball on her way to a 22 point night.avi: 623 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||