Rockers Leave Utah Seeing Starzz

Isabelle Fijalkowski scored 21 points on 8-for-9 shooting and Janice Braxton grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Cleveland Rockers to a 74-63 victory over the visiting Utah Starzz in WNBA action Thursday night.

Led by Braxton, Cleveland finished with a 41-32 rebounding advantage, including a 21-10 margin in the second half as they pulled away from a 33-33 tie.

The Starzz took a 37-35 lead early in the second half on a layup by Elena Baranova, but the Rockers (1-1) took the lead for good on consecutive 3-pointers by Eva Nemcova, the second giving them a 41-37 lead with 17:36 remaining.

Wendy Palmer led the Starzz (1-2) with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Baranova added 12 points.

The game drew a crowd of 8,845 at Gund Arena.

Rockers 74, Starzz 63

Utah (63) - Carter 2-8 0-0 4, Palmer 6-15 3-4 15, Baranova 6-13 0-0 12, Reiss 3-7 0-0 8, Hardmon 1-4 1-2 3, Booker 2-5 2-4 6, Head 3-4 0-0 6, K.Williams 3-7 0-0 7, Hicks 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 27-66 6-10 63.

Cleveland (74) - Braxton 0-4 5-6 5, Nemcova 4-15 3-4 13, Fijalkowski 8-9 5-8 21, Woodard 4-8 4-4 12, Edwards 2-9 1-4 5, Boucek 1-3 2-2 4, R.Brown 4-5 2-2 10, Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Nicholson 0-0 0-0 0, A.Johnson 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 25-60 22-30 74.

Halftime: Cleveland 74-63. 3-Point goals-Utah 3-9 (Reiss 2-2, K.Williams 1-2, Baranova 0-1, Palmer 0-4), Cleveland 2-7 (Nemcova 2-4, Edwards 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Utah 37 (Palmer 12), Cleveland 49 (Braxton 14). Assists-Utah 18 (Palmer, Baranova, K.Williams 4), Cleveland 18 (Edwards 8). Total fouls-Utah 22, Cleveland 11. A-8,845.

Liberty 62, Comets 60 (OT) i

Houston

New York opened overtime with a six-point run and held on to defeat Houston in the WNBA’s first overtime game.

A late layup by the Comets’ Kim Perrot forced the extra period. Houston then spotted New York the first three overtime baskets, thanks to a traveling violation, a bad pass and a pair of missed 3-point attempts.

Houston (2-1) got layups by Wanda Guyton and Cynthia Cooper to close to 62-60, but an errant pass caught surprised Guyton and she was called for traveling.

The Comets got the ball back with 18 seconds remaining. But Cooper’s shot was off, giving unbeaten New York (3-0) another victory, this time in front of an announced crowd of 8,931 at The Summit.

Rebecca Lobo, Vickie Johnson and Kym Hampton each led New York scorers with 10 points.

Cooper led the Comets with 20 points.

Both teams had 28 turnovers each. Houston had 33 rebounds, led by Guyton’s nine. New York had 32 boards, led by Lobo’s eight.

New York (62) - Lobo 4-13 2-4 10, V.Johnson 3-9 4-5 10, Hampton 4-8 2-3 10, Witherspoon 3-10 1-2 9, Weatherspoon 2-7 1-2 5, Trice 2-4 0-0 5, Ford 3-4 1-3 7, Wicks 2-2 2-2 6, Blades 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 13-21 62.

Houston (60) - Arcain 2-7 0-0 4, Thompson 3-12 0-0 8, Guyton 3-6 2-4 8, Perrot 2-8 3-4 7, Cooper 7-18 4-5 20, Harris 4-4 2-4 11, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Pollini 1-2 0-0 2, Woosley 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 11-17 60.

Halftime: New York 62-60. 3-Point goals-New York 3-14 (Witherspoon 2-4, Trice 1-1, Ford 0-1, Blades 0-1, Lobo 0-2, Weatherspoon 0-5), Houston 5-14 (Thompson 2-4, Cooper 2-6, Harris 1-1, Perrot 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-New York 43 (Lobo 8), Houston 44 (Guyton 9). Assists-New York 15 (Ford 4), Houston 12 (Cooper 3). Total fouls-New York 22, Houston 19. Technicals-Cooper. A-8,931.

Monarchs 78, Sting 70

Sacramento, Calif.

Former Olympians Ruthie Bolton-Holifield and Pamela McGee combined for 44 points as Sacramento handed Charlotte its third straight WNBA loss.

McGee scored 23 points, including 11 of 12 free throws, and matched teammate Chantel Tremitiere for rebounding honors with seven.

Bolton-Holifield, the Monarchs’ leading scorer, hit five 3-pointers en route to scoring 21 points.

Charlotte (70)-Moore 1-6 0-0 2, Bullett 5-7 1-2 11, Mapp 5-8 0-0 10, Stinson 8-12 1-2 17, Suber 3-6 2-2 9, Manning 4-5 0-2 8, Congreaves 2-2 3-3 7, Williams 2-8 0-0 4, Levesque 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 31-57 7-11 70.

Sacramento (78)-Gordon 5-11 1-1 11, Mosley-McAfee 2-6 2-2 6, McGee 6-9 11-12 23, Bolton-Holifield 8-19 0-0 21, Tremitiere 2-6 4-4 8, Byears 1-3 0-0 2, Yasen 2-4 0-2 4, Abraham 0-0 0-0 0, Hagiwara 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 27-59 18-21 78.

Halftime-Sacramento 33, Charlotte 30. 3-Point goals- Charlotte 1-3 (Suber 1-1, Moore 0-1, Williams 0-1), Sacramento 6-13 (Bolton-Holifield 5-11, Hagiwara 1-1, Tremitiere 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Charlotte 24 (Stinson 5), Sacramento 41 (Gordon 8). Assists-Charlotte 17 (Stinson 5), Sacramento 14 (Tremitiere 5). Total fouls-Charlotte 21, Sacramento 15. A-6,248 (17,317).