Bolton-Holifield’s 34 Lead Monarchs

WNBA

Ruthie Bolton-Holifield scored a season-high 34 points, including 11 straight midway through the second half, as the Sacramento Monarchs rallied to a 93-78 victory Friday night over the visiting Utah Starzz.

Bolton-Holifield made 11 of 18 shots, including five 3-pointers, and produced 11 points in 2-1/2 minutes to give the Monarchs a 69-65 lead with 6:12 left in the game. The 1996 Olympian ended the game with a 35-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Wendy Palmer paced Utah, which lost its third straight road game, with 25 points and nine rebounds. Reserve Kim Williams added 16 points for the Starzz.

Bridgette Gordon and Pamela McGee each scored 13 points for the Monarchs. Latasha Byears grabbed 11 rebounds for Sacramento.

Both teams shot poorly early in the first half. The Monarchs made three of their first nine attempts and Utah seven of its first 20.

But Utah, trailing 19-13, steadily emerged from its slump as Palmer repeatedly scored inside. The Starzz built a 40-34 lead after Greta Koss’ free throw with 47.7 seconds left.

Utah led 44-39 at halftime after a Tammi Reiss’ jumper with .04 left.

Monarchs 93, Starzz 78

Utah (78) - Palmer 8-20 9-12 25, Koss 2-4 1-2 5, Baranova 4-13 0-3 11, Reiss 4-12 5-5 13, Hardmon 3-3 0-0 6, Hicks 1-5 0-0 2, Williams 7-12 2-2 16, Head 0-0 0-0 0, Compain 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-69 17-24 78.

Sacramento (93) - Gordon 6-9 1-1 13, Byears 2-8 7-10 11, McGee 4-7 5-7 13, Bolton-Holifield 11-18 7-8 34, Tremitiere 5-9 4-4 14, Yasen 0-2 0-0 0, Abraham 3-5 2-2 8, Savasta 0-1 0-0 0, Graves 0-0 0-0 0, Viglione 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-59 26-32 93.

Halftime-Sacramento 93, Utah 78. 3-Point goals-Utah 3-14 (Baranova 3-9, Palmer 0-1, Reiss 0-4), Sacramento 5-11 (BoltonHolifield 5-9, McGee 0-1, Savasta 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Utah 41 (Palmer 9), Sacramento 40 (Byears 11). Assists-Utah 21 (Reiss, Hardmon 4), Sacramento 21 (Tremitiere 9). Total fouls-Utah 24, Sacramento 19. A-6,150.