Liberty Topples Mystics
Liberty 77, Mystics 56

Associated Press
Friday, July 18, 2008

Offensive miscues and a debilitating scoring drought plagued the Washington Mystics as they fell last night to the New York Liberty, 77-56, at Madison Square Garden.

Alana Beard scored 15 points and Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Mystics (8-13). Washington shot 34 percent and committed 22 turnovers that led to 27 points for New York.

"We played into their hands. We turned the ball over a few times, giving them easy baskets," McWilliams-Franklin said. "Our turnovers and our fouling definitely contributed to the game. It wasn't anything miraculous that they did in the half-court set. We turned over the ball and they turned it into points."

Ashley Battle scored 15 points and Janel McCarville had 12 to lead New York (12-9), which won for the fifth time in seven games, including a season-high third straight.

After trailing by 13 points in the second quarter, the Mystics used a 12-4 run over the first 4 minutes 2 seconds of the third quarter to pull to 47-44. Nakia Sanford had five points and Kendra Wecker hit a three-pointer for Washington during the spurt.

However, the Mystics scored just one more point the rest of the quarter. McCarville's three-point play with 5:21 left sparked New York's 19-1 run for a 66-45 lead on Tiffany Jackson's jumper with 7:47 left in the fourth quarter.

McWilliams-Franklin posted a layup 12 seconds later for the Mystics' first field goal in nearly 8 1/2 minutes. Washington didn't get any closer than 15 the rest of the way.

· MERCURY 99, SPARKS 92: Cappie Pondexter scored 27 points and host Phoenix held off Los Angeles to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Mercury led by 10 going into the final quarter but the Sparks rallied to within 91-88 with 1:28 left.

Los Angeles' DeLisha Milton-Jones scored 19 of her 38 points in the first quarter and topped her previous career high of 26 points before halftime. Sparks first-round pick Candace Parker, the leading scorer among WNBA rookies, scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, her 12th double-double of the season.

· COMETS 96, LYNX 88: Tina Thompson scored 25 points off the bench, helping host Houston snap a three-game losing streak with the victory over Minnesota.