Comets Ascend To Wnba Throne Mvp Cooper Shines Again As Houston Wins Crown

The Houston Comets won the first WNBA championship Saturday the way they won the regular season, by relying on league MVP Cynthia Cooper.

Cooper scored 25 points, including eight straight free throws down the stretch, and the Comets held the New York Liberty to 38 percent shooting to capture the title with a 65-51 victory.

The Liberty prides itself on aggressive defense, but couldn’t hold back the Comets at the start of the second half, when they ran off 10 unanswered points for a 40-28 lead with 13:35 to play.

“We always talk about the first five minutes of games, the last five minutes of halves and the first five minutes. Those are the most important,” Comets coach Van Chancellor said. “We came out the second half with a four-point lead. I just wanted to play tough, and I thought we did.”

But Cooper, the league’s leading scorer, came through at the free-throw line, making eight in a row in the final 4:36.

“We felt that if we could come out in the second half and play tough the first five minutes, we could control the game,” Cooper said.

Tina Thompson scored 10 of her 18 points in the second half for the Comets.

“I think it had something to do with us not executing our offense and them executing theirs,” New York coach Nancy Darsch said. “That was kind of the story the whole game.”

The Comets played without starting center Wanda Guyton, who suffered a concussion when she struck her head on the floor in Thursday’s 70-54 semifinal victory over the Charlotte.

“I’m just so proud of the girls by going out there and doing it for me and doing it for themselves,” said Guyton, who sat in a wheelchair in the locker room during the game. “I’m just so happy. This is my first championship ever.”

The Comets joined the Rockets of the NBA as recent basketball champions from Houston. The Rockets defeated another New York team, the Knicks, for the city’s first NBA title in 1993, then repeated in 1994.

Houston also won American Football League titles after the 1960 and 1961 seasons and the World Hockey Association championship in 1974 and 1975.

Tammy Jackson stepped into the starting lineup for Guyton and had 11 rebounds, two steals and seven points in 37 minutes.

“Tammy came in and never blinked an eye,” Chancellor said. “She started the biggest game of her life. That’s test to her character, her intestinal fortitude and everything else. What a game.”

Comets 65, Liberty 51

New York (51) - Lobo 3-8 3-4 9, Johnson 6-16 0-0 12, Hampton 6-13 1-4 13, Weatherspoon 2-6 0-2 4, Witherspoon 2-8 0-0 5, Ford 0-2 0-0 0, Blades 0-0 0-0 0, Trice 3-4 0-0 6, Wicks 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-60 4-10 51.

Houston (65) - Arcain 3-11 0-0 6, Thompson 6-10 5-8 18, Jackson 3-6 1-2 7, Cooper 7-13 11-15 25, Perrot 3-13 0-0 9, Swoopes 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 17-25 65.

Halftime: Houston 37, New York 25 3-Point goals-New York 1-8 (Witherspoon 1-4, Lobo 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Weatherspoon 0-2), Houston 4-14 (Perrot 3-9, Thompson 1-2, Arcain 0-1, Cooper 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-New York 36 (Hampton 13), Houston 31 (Jackson 11). Assists-New York 13 (Weatherspoon 5), Houston 6 (Cooper 4). Total fouls-New York 23, Houston 14. A-16,285.