Liberty win, notch playoff spot

The New York Liberty knew they needed to win to get in the playoffs.

Shameka Christon scored eight of her 15 points in the final 6 minutes to lead the Liberty to a 58-52 victory over the Chicago Sky on Sunday in New York, giving the Liberty the last postseason berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Liberty began the day tied with Washington for fourth place in the East, with New York holding the tiebreaker. The Mystics beat Connecticut on a last-second shot about 45 minutes before the start of the Liberty’s game, making it necessary for New York to win to reach the playoffs.

“We knew they won,” Christon said. “We knew we had to get it done for ourselves.”

Janel McCarville had 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, and Cathrine Kraayeveld added 12 points for the Liberty (16-18), who closed the season with six wins in their last nine games.

Mystics 76, Sun 74: At Uncasville, Conn., Monique Currie made a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to give Washington a victory over Connecticut, but the Mystics missed the playoffs when the New York Liberty won later in the day.

Fever 72, Shock 66: At Indianapolis, Tamika Whitmore had 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Fever to a victory over Detroit in the teams’ regular-season finale.

The Shock were already assured of the best record in the WNBA and the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Lynx 81, Silver Stars 55: At Minneapolis, Kristen Mann scored 19 points to help Minnesota beat San Antonio.

Shanna Crossley had 20 points for San Antonio, which had already clinched the second spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

Mercury 87, Monarchs 73: At Phoenix, Diana Taurasi scored 24 points to lead the Mercury to their fifth straight win, a victory over Sacramento in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The Mercury open the postseason at No. 4 seed Seattle on Friday night.

Comets 82, Sparks 73: At Los Angeles, Tina Thompson had 22 points to lead Houston to a win over the Sparks.

Thompson became the fourth WNBA player to reach 2,000 career rebounds.