Lieberman, 50, Suits Up For Detroit in Place of Ford

The Detroit Shock signed 50-year-old Nancy Lieberman, a Hall of Famer and one of their former coaches, to a seven-day contract yesterday and she was expected to play only in last night's game in Houston.

"It's really a one-game deal," Lieberman said in a telephone interview. "My motivation stems from the fact that I love this game and I never stopped playing it, whether it's a pickup game with Deion Sanders and Tony Romo at a church or at a park with my son."

She became the oldest player in WNBA history at 39 while playing for the Phoenix Mercury in 1997, the league's inaugural season.

"This is not a gimmick," Shock Coach Bill Laimbeer said. "I talked to her last year about this and again two weeks ago. This opportunity probably would've happened if we didn't have the incident the other night."

A spot opened up for Lieberman when forward Cheryl Ford suffered a season-ending knee injury Tuesday night when the Shock and the Los Angeles Sparks were involved in a skirmish.

· SUN 87, SPARKS 61: Lindsay Whalen scored 13 of her 22 points in the third quarter as host Connecticut beat a short-handed Los Angeles team.

The Sparks were without their top three scorers: Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, and DeLisha Milton-Jones, who were all suspended for one game by the WNBA for their involvement in Tuesday's altercation with the Shock. The three Olympians combined to average 48 points and 24 rebounds.

· MONARCHS 83, MERCURY 74: Rebekkah Brunson had 18 points and 11 rebounds as Sacramento beat visiting Phoenix for its sixth straight victory.

Kara Lawson had 15 points and seven assists, and Nicole Powell added 13 points for the Monarchs, who were at the bottom of the Western Conference standings just two weeks ago.

· SILVER STARS 78, SKY 67: Sophia Young scored 20 points, including seven during a decisive third-quarter run, as San Antonio defeated visiting Chicago.

The Silver Stars moved ahead of Seattle into first place in the Western Conference.

· LYNX 84, FEVER 80: Seimone Augustus led all scorers with 25 points as Minnesota won on at Indiana in overtime.