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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Liberty’s Top Scorer Hurt In Victory Over Mercury

From Wire Reports

WNBA

Sophia Witherspoon’s leap from the ordinary began two weeks ago. However, that bound is not the one everyone is thinking about right now.

Late in the Liberty’s 78-70 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday, New York’s leading scorer jumped around a defender under the basket and landed awkwardly, spraining her right ankle. It is the same ankle she hurt last week, and it is uncertain if she will be available for Tuesday’s home game against Los Angeles.

Witherspoon had scored a team-high 20 points at Madison Square Garden when she left the game with 1 minute, 53 seconds remaining.

Liberty 78, Mercury 70

At New York

Phoenix (70) - Foster 3-7 0-0 6, Jackson 2-2 0-0 5, Gillom 6-19 1-1 14, Timms 6-17 4-4 20, Pettis 5-11 2-2 14, Webb 1-7 3-4 5, Askamp 1-4 0-0 2, Lieberman-Cline 2-7 0-0 4, Hagiwara 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-75 10-11 70.

New York (78) - Lobo 7-14 4-7 18, Johnson 3-8 0-0 6, Hampton 4-7 2-6 10, Weatherspoon 1-4 6-8 8, Witherspoon 7-12 5-9 20, Blades 0-5 1-2 1, Trice 0-1 0-0 0, Ford 3-7 0-0 6, Wicks 3-4 2-2 9, Perazic-Gipe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 20-34 78.

Halftime score: New York 38, Phoenix 27 3-Point goals-Phoenix 8-17 (Timms 4-8, Pettis 2-4, Jackson 1-1, Gillom 1-2, Foster 0-1, Lieberman-Cline 0-1), New York 2-15 (Wicks 1-1, Witherspoon 1-3, Weatherspoon 0-1, Trice 0-1, Ford 0-1, Lobo 0-3, Blades 0-5). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Phoenix 46 (Gillom 9), New York 52 (Hampton 10). Assists- Phoenix 13 (Timms 6), New York 21 (Johnson 6). Total fouls- Phoenix 28, New York 15. Technicals-Timms, Weatherspoon. A-14,660.

Rockers 72, Monarchs 51

Cleveland

Cleveland won its WNBA-record eighth consecutive game, routing Sacramento behind Isabelle Fijalkowsi’s 22-point performance.

Eva Nemcova added 18 points, and Michelle Edwards had 17 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists for the Rockers (11-8), who broke the mark of seven straight victories set by New York at the beginning of the season.

Ruthie Bolton-Holifield had 19 points for the Monarchs, who have lost eight straight to drop to 5-13. Sacramento is 0-3 under Heidi VanDerveer, who replaced the fired Mary Murphy on July 28.

Sacramento (51) - Byears 2-9 0-0 4, Gordon 2-10 7-9 11, McGee 4-14 2-3 10, Tremitiere 2-5 1-2 5, Bolton-Holifield 7-14 1-2 19, Abraham 0-4 0-0 0, Clark 1-2 0-0 2, Viglione 0-1 0-0 0, Graves 0-2 0-0 0, Savasta 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-62 11-16 51.

Cleveland (72) - Nemcova 4-10 9-9 18, Braxton 3-7 3-6 9, Fijalkowski 10-14 1-1 22, Edwards 7-13 2-5 17, Woodard 1-12 2-2 4, Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Jones 0-3 0-0 0, Nicholson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 17-23 72.

Halftime score: Cleveland 27, Sacramento 27 3-Point goals-Sacramento 4-11 (Bolton-Holifield 4-9, Gordon 0-1, Savasta 0-1), Cleveland 3-3 (Edwards 1-1, Fijalkowski 1-1, Nemcova 1-1). Fouled out-Byears. Rebounds-Sacramento 38 (Byears 11), Cleveland 53 (Edwards, Fijalkowski 9). Assists- Sacramento 11 (Tremitiere 5), Cleveland 17 (Edwards 7). Total fouls-Sacramento 25, Cleveland 15. Technicals-Jones. A-7,541.

Utah 74, Houston 63

Salt Lake City

Elena Baranova scored 17 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Utah.

Dena Head had 15 points off the bench for Utah, going 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

Houston (63) - Thompson 7-17 2-2 20, Arcain 4-8 1-1 9, Jackson 1-5 2-2 4, Perrot 1-7 0-0 3, Cooper 4-9 6-7 15, Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Harris 1-3 1-2 3, Woosley 3-5 0-0 9. Totals 21-55 12-14 63.

Utah (74) - Palmer 5-11 4-4 14, Hardmon 2-5 1-2 5, Baranova 6-13 2-2 17, Booker 0-0 0-0 0, Reiss 5-9 2-2 14, Hicks 2-3 0-0 4, Williams 2-3 0-0 4, Head 3-8 8-8 15, Compain 0-0 0-0 0, Koss 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 25-52 18-20 74.

Halftime score: Utah 34, Houston 30 3-Point goals-Houston 9-27 (Thompson 4-10, Woosley 3-4, Cooper 1-5, Perrot 1-6, Arcain 0-2), Utah 6-12 (Baranova 3-6, Reiss 2-3, Head 1-2, Palmer 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Houston 26 (Jackson 6), Utah 39 (Baranova 12). Assists-Houston 13 (Thompson, Cooper 5), Utah 15 (Hardmon, Head, Koss 3). Total fouls-Houston 20, Utah 15. A-8,561.