Lasers Eliminate Blizzard

ABL playoffs

Clarisse Machanguana scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as San Jose beat New England 83-71 Sunday in San Jose, Calif., to sweep the best-of-three ABL series.

San Jose will face the Columbus Quest in the second round. The Lasers lost last year to the Quest when the teams met in the first round.

The Lasers led the Blizzard by as many as 18 in the third period but let New England close to within six points with 1:02 left. Jennifer Azzi and Shelley Sandie sealed the victory with four free throws.

Lasers 83, Blizzard 71

San Jose, Calif.

New England (71) - Hodges 2-6 0-0 4, Deden 5-10 0-0 10, Berry 3-5 2-2 8, Jones 8-19 7-10 23, Rizzotti 3-5 2-2 10, Tate 1-5 0-0 2, Roland 2-4 2-2 7, Hill 0-2 2-2 2, Berube 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Wolters 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 26-62 16-20 71.

San Jose (83) - Smith 2-4 2-2 6, Sam 7-12 2-2 17, Machanguana 9-13 9-13 27, Azzi 1-8 7-10 10, Holland-Corn 2-9 4-4 10, Byrd 0-0 0-0 0, Kaplan 0-1 0-0 0, Sandie 2-2 2-2 7, Gaither 2-3 0-2 4, Henning 0-3 2-2 2, Bradley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 28-37 83.

New England 16 15 21 19 - 71

San Jose 23 23 15 22 - 83

3-Point goals-NE 3-10 (Rizzotti 2-4, Roland 1-2, Jones 0-2, Hill 0-2), SJ 5-10 (Holland-Corn 2-4, Sandie 1-1, Sam 1-2, Azzi 1-3). Fouled out-Holland-Corn. Rebounds-NE 32 (Wolters 7), SJ 43 (Machanguana 14). Assists-NE 13 (Rizzotti, Roland 3), SJ 19 (Smith 6). Total fouls-NE 25, SJ 18. A-4,052.

Xplosion 88, StingRays 68

Denver

Tari Phillips scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Colorado Xplosion to an 88-68 victory over the Long Beach StingRays in the first round of the ABL playoff series.

With 3:50 remaining, Phillips’ layup sparked a key 11-0 run for Colorado.

The teams are now tied at a game apiece in the best-of3 series. The deciding game will be played Wednesday at Long Beach.

Long Beach (68) - Davis-Wrightsil 4-17 2-8 11, Griffith 6-12 0-0 17, Lacy 2-9 0-0 4, Williams 6-10 0-0 15, Nagy 2-4 0-1 4, Stafford 2-4 0-0 4, Wilkerson 0-2 0-0 2, Ruff 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 3-5 1-2 7, Bauer 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 27-66 3-11 68.

Colorado (88) - Hall 7-12 2-2 20, Robinson 3-7 4-4 11, Phillips 9-11 6-8 24, Black 0-3 7-8 7, Campbell 6-13 3-4 18, Wynne 2-3 0-0 4, Masley 1-1 0-0 2, Anderson 1-2 0-1 2, Ford 0-1 0-0 0, Howard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-54 22-27 88.

Long Beach 14 18 20 16 - 68

Colorado 17 19 24 28 - 88

3-Point goals-LB 3-11 (Davis-Wrightsil 2-8, Johnson 1-2, Nagy 0-1), C 8-19 (Hall 4-7, Campbell 3-7, Robinson 1-3, Black 0-1, Howard 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-LB 30 (Griffith 8), C 40 (Phillips 12). Assists-LB 11 (Nagy 5), C 21 (Robinson 9). Fouls-LB 22, C 17. A-3,899.