Lacy Turns It Up for the StingRays

You’ll recall Venus Lacy, the biggest, most powerful member of the U.S. women’s championship basketball team at the Atlanta Olympics.

She was the team’s enforcer . . . and she also shot 64% from the floor in Atlanta.

On Sunday afternoon, before 1,601 at the Pyramid, she shot .1000 during a critical 2 1/2-minute stretch of the fourth quarter--and nine of 10 for the game--and propelled her Long Beach StingRays to a 75-70 victory over Colorado.

Lacy is now 6 feet 4 and 195 pounds, considerably slimmed down from her 240-pound 1996 frame. But against the Xplosion on Sunday, her old powerful, big-shouldered offensive style was back.

Long Beach (11-9) took a firmer grip on second place in the ABL’s Western Conference with the victory, Colorado (10-11) dipping two games behind the StingRays, in third.

It has been a disappointing season for Lacy, who has suffered two concussions this year--one in an off-season auto accident in Louisiana--and another in a game. Assorted injuries have slowed her down too.

But with 5:31 left in the game Sunday and Long Beach clinging to a 64-60 lead, Lacy was there for her team:

* She scored underneath on a great assist from Trisha Stafford for a 66-60 lead.

* When Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil missed a three-point shot at 4:41, Lacy went up and over 6-5 Sylvia Crawley and her putback made the score 68-62.

* At 3:05, she drove powerfully down the key for a layup and a 71-66 lead.

She finished with 20 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes.

“The team needs me to play like that . . . everything kind of came together for me there [in the last period],” she said.

“My weight is good now, I feel good--I can really help this team.”

Yolanda Griffith added 21 points and 13 rebounds as Long Beach atoned for an 89-78 loss Friday at Denver.

ABL Notes

DeLisha Milton made a 15-foot jumper with 58 seconds left in the second overtime at Seattle as the Portland Power (16-8) completed a two-night sweep of the Seattle Reign (6-17) with a 75-69 victory before 3,357.