Superior East

WASHINGTON – Bill Laimbeer brought some “Bad Boy” toughness to the WNBA All-Star game Sunday and coached the Eastern Conference to its first winning streak in the midseason spectacle.

“We talked about it before the game,” East coach Laimbeer said. “We were going to have some fun, but were going to win the game.”

Cheryl Ford of the Detroit Shock had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Katie Douglas scored 18 points to give the East a 103-99 victory, its second straight since losing the first six.

Laimbeer, a physical force on the Detroit Pistons’ NBA title teams in 1989 and 1990, has brought that swagger to the WNBA as head coach of the league champion Shock.

“He was still the same,” said Ford, the All-Star MVP. “He was the fiery coach he is, and he wanted to win.”

Ford, who hit her first career 3-pointer in the second quarter, shot 5 for 9 from the floor and was 5 for 7 on free throws.

“It was a nice award for me, a nice achievement,” Ford said of the MVP honors. “I didn’t come in here expecting to win. I just came to play and show the fans a good time. But I won and, most importantly, our team won.”

Tamika Catchings had 15 points and 11 rebounds, DeLisha Milton-Jones and Deanna Nolan scored 11 points apiece and Asjha Jones had 10 to help the East hold on after nearly squandering a 12-point lead in the final 2 minutes.

“Just like that, they came back,” Catchings said. “They hit some 3s, got some steals, rebounds. They were hitting down the stretch and put that little pressure on us. We won and that’s all that matters. That’s what we were aiming for.”

Tina Thompson scored 19 points, Lauren Jackson had 14, and Diana Taurasi and Becky Hammon 13 each for the West, which had its six-game All-Star winning streak snapped last year in New York. Cappie Pondexter added 12 points and Taj McWilliams-Franklin 11.

“Just couldn’t pull it out in the end,” Jackson said. “It was a fun game, high scoring. If we made a few more 3s we probably would have won.”

The West shot 37 percent from the floor, attempting an All-Star-record 100 field goals. It was 17 for 46 on 3-pointers, records for made and attempted.

“We just tried to beat them from the outside simply because we thought we are a little quicker,” Thompson said. “They did a great job of getting the ball inside and getting really high percentage shots.”

The East made 45 percent from the field (40 for 89), 9 of 20 on 3s and 14 of 17 at the line.

“The East plays defense, and the West doesn’t. The West shoots 3s all night long and the East takes it to the hole a little bit more,” the East’s Alana Beard said. “I thought we did a great job of just pushing the ball in transition, and getting the ball to open players.”