Staley’s Timely Jumper Dashes Columbus’ Quest

ABL

Dawn Staley made a 10-foot turnaround jumper with 2.2 seconds left Friday to give the visiting Philadelphia Rage an 87-86 victory over the Columbus Quest in the American Basketball League opener for both teams.

Columbus took a 9-8 lead in the first quarter and held it until La’Keshia Frett tied the score at 81-81 with 3:30 to play.

Rage 87, Quest 86

Philadelphia (87) -Frett 6-11 2-2 15, Goodson 4-9 3-9 11, McWilliams 2-6 6-6 10, Marciniak 4-8 2-2 13, Staley 6-15 2-3 15, Sobral 5-9 0-0 12, Morgan 2-3 0-0 5, Aldridge 2-2 2-2 6, Mallon 0-0 0-0 0, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-63 17-24 87.

Columbus (86) - Lloyd 1-5 3-4 5, Smith 6-14 4-4 20, Still 4-10 1-5 9, Johnson 5-10 7-7 20, Edwards 7-19 5-7 22, Tate 3-6 0-0 6, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Roland 0-0 0-0 0, Potthoff 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 28-68 20-27 86.

Halftime-Columbus 44, Philadelphia 38. 3-point goals- Philadelphia 8-15 (Frett 1-1, Goodson 0-1, Marciniak 3-5, Staley 1-4, Sorbal 2-3, Morgan 1-1), Columbus 10-25 (Lloyd 0-2, Smith 4-8, Johnson 3-4, Edwards 3-10, Davis 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Philadelphia 46 (Goodson 9), Columbus 35 (Still 12). Assists-Philadelphia 18 (Staley 7), Columbus 22 (Smith, Johnson 5). Total fouls-Philadelphia 22, Columbus 21. A-3,850.

Glory 84, Blizzard 78 Atlanta

Tracy Henderson had 18 points and seven rebounds and Stacy Lovelace added 15 points to lead Atlanta over New England.

The Glory (1-1), playing its home opener in front of 5,113 at Morehouse College, led 43-37 at halftime. Player-coach Teresa Edwards, who played 40 minutes, scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half and also had 10 assists.

New England (78) - Hodges 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 10-16 6-7 30, Deden 4-6 0-0 8, Rizzotti 3-8 5-7 14, Hill 1-6 0-0 2, Thirdgill 0-0 2-2 2, Tate 1-2 0-2 2, Berube 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-1 0, Berry 7-12 2-4 16, Wolters 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 28-56 15-23 78.

Atlanta (84) - McClain 2-6 0-0 4, Lovelace 5-11 5-6 15, Henderson 6-9 6-7 18, Edwards 8-23 0-1 16, Johnson 5-8 2-3 16, Vidic 0-0 2-2 0, Malcolm 0-0 0-0 0, Freeman 3-6 0-0 6, Conklin 3-5 0-0 9. Totals 32-68 15-19 84.

Halftime-Atlanta 43, New England 37. 3-Point goals-New England 7-13 .538 (Jones 4-6, Rizzotti 3-6, Hill 0-1). Atlanta 5-15 .333 (Johnson 4-6, Conklin 1-2, Edwards 0-7). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-New England 36 (Berry 9), Atlanta 37 (Freeman 8). Assists-New England 14 (Jones 5), Atlanta 14 (Edwards 10). Total fouls-New England 23, Atlanta 21. A-5,113.

Sting Rays 98, Lasers 91 Long Beach, Calif.

Yolanda Griffith scored 26 points as Long Beach won its ABL debut over San Jose. Olympic gold medalist Venus Lacy added 19 points before fouling out.

The 2-year-old league’s lone expansion team took an 18-point first-quarter lead. Long Beach used runs of 9-1, 6-1 and 8-1 in building a 33-15 lead. Griffith had eight points in the quarter.

San Jose (91) - Smith 3-8 2-5 8, Sam 7-19 1-2 16, Gaither 3-7 2-2 8, Azzi 7-14 8-8 25, Henning 2-5 2-4 7, Byrd 0-0 0-0 0, Caplan 0-0 0-0 0, Sandie 3-6 5-6 11, Holland-Corn 2-6 2-3 6, Machanguana 2-2 4-5 8, Bradley 0-2 2-2 2, Totals 29-69 28-37 91.

Long Beach (98) - Davis-Wrightsil 4-10 7-10 15, Griffith 8-12 10-14 26, Bauer 2-5 4-5 8, Williams 5-12 2-3 13, Nagy 2-2 7-9 12, Stafford 1-1 0-0 2, McCrimmon 1-2 1-2 3, Ruff 0-1 0-0 0, Lacy 7-11 5-8 19. Totals 30-56 36-51 98.

Halftime-Long Beach 52, San Jose 37. 3-Point goals-San Jose 5-14 (Azzi 3-5, Sam 1-3, Henning 1-1, Holland-Corn 0-3, Smith 0-2) Long Beach 2-6 (Williams 1-3, Nagy 1-1, Davis 0-2). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-San Jose 27 (Smith 6), Long Beach 43 (Williams 12). Assists-San Jose 16 (Azzi 4), Long Beach 23 (Nagy 8. Total fouls-San Jose 38, Long Beach 27. A-3,108.