Storm finish Eastern road trip 0-3 after 70-65 loss at Detroit
Deanna Nolan gave Detroit an offensive and a defensive boost.
She scored 21 points for the Shock and held Seattle’s Betty Lennox scoreless, leading Detroit to a 70-65 win over the Storm at Auburn Hills, Mich.
“This kid can shut people down and she’s unbelievable,” Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said. “You can’t go by her and you don’t get open shots. All you’ve got to do is look at Betty Lennox’s donut.”
Lennox entered the game averaging 12.6 points. Sue Bird scored 21 points and Lauren Jackson added 18 for the Storm, which finished an Eastern Conference road trip 0-3.
“We didn’t play our game,” Bird said. “When we play our game and everybody is on the same page, things just fall in the right place and it helps us play well. When you don’t play your game, you kind of struggle and that’s what happened on this road trip.”
Swin Cash had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Shock, Cheryl Ford had 12 points and eight rebounds and Ruth Riley added 10 points as the Shock won their second straight.
Detroit went on a 9-0 run to open up a 49-39 lead with 9:53 left in the game after leading by two at the half.
Nolan scored 13 points in the second half, including a 3-point play that gave Detroit a 63-52 lead with 3:39 remaining.
Seattle mustered a 10-2 run to trim the lead to 65-62 on a 3-pointer by Bird with 1:01 remaining. Later, trailing 68-62, Jackson hit a 3-pointer that cut Detroit’s lead to 68-65 with 24.9 seconds left, but Nolan made a pair of free throws.
Sparks 59, Comets 56: At Houston, Mwadi Mabika scored 17 points and Lisa Leslie added 12 as Los Angeles came from behind to beat the Comets.
The Sparks have won six straight and seven of their last eight.
Sting 67, Mystics 65: At Charlotte, N.C., Allison Feaster scored 20 points, and the Eastern Conference-leading Sting held off Washington.
Washington’s Chamique Holdsclaw, the WNBA’s leading scorer with a 21.3 average, scored just six points on 3-for-13 shooting.
Charlotte has won three straight.