Roundup
Shock Beats Mystics to Wrap Up East
Rookie Tasha Humphrey, acquired from Detroit in an Aug. 12 trade for McWilliams-Franklin, finished with 12 points and nine rebounds against her former team but it was far too little to lift the Mystics.
(Jerry S. Mendoza - AP)
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Friday, September 12, 2008; Page E02
The Detroit Shock clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference last night with a 78-66 victory over visiting Washington, the Mystics' seventh straight loss.
"Now we can start working on things for the playoffs," said Deanna Nolan, who led the Shock with 17 points. "We need to start playing a little smarter -- understand when to run and when to slow it up depending on the situation."
After finishing the regular season Sunday in New York, the Shock will play fourth-seeded Indiana in the first round. Detroit has beaten the Fever in the postseason while advancing to the WNBA finals in each of the last two years.
Normally, with the top seed locked up, Coach Bill Laimbeer would rest his key players against the Liberty, but he isn't sure if he feels safe doing that this year. With a victory in New York, the Shock would clinch home-court advantage in a possible finals matchup with Los Angeles.
"We'd want to get home court against the Sparks if we could, so we may have to play that game normally," Laimbeer said. "We'll see how things work out."
The Mystics (10-22) have lost seven straight since beating Atlanta on July 25.
"We want to show improvement with every game," Washington Coach Jessie Kenlaw said. "We set a goal that we want to play better as a team, and I feel like tonight we did that."
Kara Braxton had 15 points for Detroit, while Plenette Pierson scored 12 and former Mystic Taj McWilliams-Franklin added nine points and eight rebounds.
Alana Beard led Washington with 16 points and Monique Currie had 14. Rookie Tasha Humphrey, acquired from Detroit on Aug. 12 for Williams-Franklin, finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
After a close first period, Detroit took control by outscoring the Mystics 26-13 in the second.
· SILVER STARS 78, SUN 74: Sophia Young scored 24 points to help host San Antonio clinch home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
Ann Wauters and Becky Hammon added 17 points each for the Silver Stars. Wauters also had 15 rebounds as San Antonio finished 14-0 against the Eastern Conference. Asjha Jones scored 18 points to lead Connecticut.
· DREAM 83, SPARKS 72: Iziane Casto Marques scored 23 points and Betty Lennox added 21 for visiting Atlanta, which outscored host Los Angeles 26-13 in the fourth quarter to win just its fourth game against 29 losses. Candace Parker collected 23 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Sparks.
· FEVER 74, LIBERTY 59: Tammy Sutton-Brown scored 16 points to lead Indiana over New York, which hasn't won in Indianapolis in the regular season since 2002.
