StingRays Unload on the Rage

The StingRays got a third consecutive strong game out of Venus Lacy in the low post and she and her teammates took apart their favorite patsy, the Philadelphia Rage, 95-71, Tuesday night at the Pyramid.

Lacy scored six of Long Beach’s first 14 points, then controlled both boards during a 26-point second period, when the StingRays (12-9) raced away to a 52-31 halftime lead.

The 6-foot-4 Lacy scored 19 and had seven rebounds in 24 minutes. She was seemingly open underneath every trip downcourt.

Teammate Beverly Williams, who finished with 19 points, said, “Until someone shows us they can stop Venus, we’ll keep going inside to her.

“We set very high goals for ourselves [before the season], and now we’re on track to where we want to go--to the finals.”

Long Beach has won two in a row for the fourth time, and four of its last five. Philadelphia (8-14) lost the second game of a six-game road trip.

Even worse for the Rage--Tuesday’s was its eighth consecutive road loss, an ABL record.

For the StingRays, there was a downside--the crowd. The StingRays announced 1,008--smallest of the season. However, a crowd counter at the opening tip counted 342. A couple of hundred others arrived late.

The StingRays survived a scare in the fourth quarter when the team’s leading rebounder and scorer, Yolanda Griffith, crumpled to the floor in pain under the Philadelphia basket. She was down for several minutes.

“I tripped, someone fell on me, and I sprained my neck,” she said.

A minute before that happened, Philadelphia’s Michelle Marciniak and Long Beach’s Dana Wilkerson squared off and threw punches before they were separated. The two were tangled on the floor, after a loose ball, when tempers were lost.

Long Beach had 16 steals against the Rage and converted many of those into fast break points, most of them by Williams. The 5-9 guard was eight for 11 from the floor and had four assists.

The StingRays’ breakaway run came halfway through the first period when Niesa Johnson, Williams and Lacy opened up a 21-12 lead and Philadelphia never challenged thereafter.

This, despite three three-pointers by Dawn Staley (18 points) in the first quarter. Philadelphia’s Adrianne Goodson had a game-high 21 points.

The StingRays were at their best in the middle of the second quarter when they went from a 32-20 lead to 50-27 in five minutes.

ABL Notes

The StingRays play at Portland Thursday night. . . . The StingRays’ Yolando Griffith and Beverly Williams have made the Western Conference team for the Jan. 18 All-Star game at Orlando. . . . At San Jose, the Lasrs (11-13) held the Colorado Xplosion (10-12) to two for 12 on three-point shots and recorded an 83-70 victory before an announced 2,931.