Williams Goes Outside to Do In StingRays

The game was billed as a matchup between Natalie Williams and Yolanda Griffith, two of the best big players in women’s basketball. It was Williams who came up with a career night to give her Portland Power an 85-80 overtime victory over the Long Beach StingRays Tuesday night before 1,491 at the Pyramid.

Williams had a career-high 34 points, but it was her desperation three-point shot from the corner--her first three-pointer as a pro--that tied the score at 71 with 10 seconds left in regulation.

Long Beach (7-6) was on the verge of beating the ABL’s Western Conference leader before Williams went to work.

First she made the three-point shot when left alone in the corner, as stunned players on the StingRay bench began sliding out of their chairs and onto the floor in disbelief.

Then, with two seconds left, Williams prevented Long Beach from winning in regulation with a clean block of a short Griffth shot.

Williams, regarded by some as the game’s premier rebounder until Griffith came to Long Beach, has been Portland’s go-to player since its first game.

But from the corner?

Never.

Said Portland Coach Lin Dunn: “I guarantee you, Nat taking a three on that play was about our ninth option.”

Long Beach lost for the second time in three games and now has lost three of five at the Pyramid.

A one-on-one matchup of Williams and Griffith never actually materialized--Long Beach started with Griffith on the high post and Williams was in the low post all evening, guarded mostly by Venus Lacy and Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil.

Griffith most often was matched against rookie defensive specialist DeLisha Milton, who often locked up Griffith with her arms.

Williams had 10 rebounds to go with her 34 points; Griffith had 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Long Beach had a 72-71 lead and a 74-74 tie in overtime, but Williams and Milton helped Portland (11-4) pull away. Williams got a fast break basket on a great assist by Elaine Powell with 42 seconds left for an 81-76 lead and two Milton free throws with 28 seconds to go pretty much iced it.

ABL Notes

Long Beach has two road games before starting another three-game homestand Nov. 30 against Columbus. The StingRays play at San Jose on Saturday and at Seattle on Nov. 28. . . . A year ago, Natalie Williams said she wanted to play for the WNBA’s Utah Starzz, where her family lives. “I looked at doing that [after last season] and everything added up to staying in the ABL,” she said. “I make more money, and I get paid year-around [WNBA players don’t]. And I like the coach [Lin Dunn] too. And there was a sense of letting a lot of Portland people down if I’d left.” . . . At Philadelphia, Charlotte Smith scored 19 points to lead the San Jose Lasers to a 95-79 victory over the Rage before 2,384. Adrienne Goodson scored a game-high 30 points for the Rage.