Nolan’s rare feat lifts Shock

Deanna Nolan had the fourth triple-double in league history and Kara Braxton added 18 points to help the Detroit Shock beat the Connecticut Sun 78-67 in Auburn Hills, Mich., as the WNBA tipped off its season.

Nolan finished with 11 points, a team-record 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Ayana Walker added 14, after only scoring 18 points in the 2004 season.

Braxton, the seventh pick in last month’s draft, came off the bench just four months after giving birth.

Connecticut’s Taj McWilliams-Franklin led all scorers with 25 points, while Lindsay Whalen added 12 and Asjha Jones had 11.

Detroit led 41-34 at halftime, but the Sun pulled to 45-44 with 17:07 to play.

The Shock answered with a 13-1 run that included three-point plays by Nolan and Walker, as well as a 3-pointer by Niele Ivey.

Comets 78, Silver Stars 70: Sheryl Swoopes scored 26 points to lead the visiting Houston to a victory over San Antonio.

Swoopes, the league MVP in 2000 and ‘02, shot 9 for 16 from the field, including two 3-pointers, and 6 for 7 from the line.

Marie Ferdinand led San Antonio with 24 points. She missed a 3-point try that would have cut Houston’s lead to three points with 16 seconds remaining.

Houston led by as many as 19 points in the second half before the Silver Stars closed within five with less than a minute remaining on a 3-pointer by Ferdinand.

Mystics 60, Sting 42: DeLisha Milton-Jones had 11 points and seven rebounds to lead visiting Washington past Charlotte.

First-round draft pick Temeka Johnson added 10 points for the Mystics, while former Sting forward Charlotte Smith-Taylor scored nine in her return to Charlotte, where she spent the past six seasons before leaving as a free agent.

Charlotte missed 19 of its first 21 shots from the field and committed 13 turnovers in the game’s first 16 minutes.

Monarchs 77, Mercury 72: Nicole Powell and DeMya Walker each scored 13 points to lead visiting Sacramento past Phoenix.

Yolanda Griffith had 11 points and Powell added six rebounds and six assists for Sacramento, which built a 12-point lead in the second half before the Mercury pulled within three in the final 2 minutes.

Diana Taurasi and Anna DeForge each had 20 points for the Mercury.