Swoopes, There It Is--the Title

Suddenly, in the last few minutes of another championship season Tuesday night--and for really the first time in two years--Houston had finally become Sheryl Swoopes’ town.

When the WNBA divvied up its first group of premier players in 1996, it sent the highly regarded Swoopes, a Texan, to Houston and threw in a former USC player who had been playing pro ball in Italy for 10 years, a Cynthia somebody.

Then Swoopes became pregnant, missed most of last season after giving birth, and darned if Cynthia Cooper didn’t become the star of the team, leading the Comets to a championship and winning the MVP award.

This year, Cooper did it again.

And Houston has won again in the third and deciding game of the finals, this time with an 80-71 victory over Phoenix before another sellout crowd of 16,285 in Compaq Center.

Swoopes finished the game with a burst of brilliant basketball, the likes of which hadn’t been seen anywhere in women’s basketball this season. Or maybe any other season.

Some thought back to April 4, 1993, at the NCAA women’s championship game in Atlanta, when Swoopes led Texas Tech to the national title over Ohio State.

She scored 47 points, making 16 of 24 field-goal attempts, and on that time was maybe the best pure shooter anyone had seen in the women’s game.

Tuesday night, she was maybe the greatest player anyone had ever seen.

With 7:22 remaining, Houston was clinging to a 62-61 lead, its championship trembling. Then, this:

* At 7:22, Swoopes made two free throws for a 64-61 Comet lead.

* At 6:41, she brought the crowd to its feet by rifling a great assist pass underneath to Janeth Arcain for a 66-61 lead.

* At 6:03, she scored a layup off a Kim Perrot pass and it was 68-61.

* At 3:05, with Houston’s lead cut to 71-67, she knocked down Perrot to get to the Mercury’s Michele Timms on the baseline, leaped . . . and in spectacular fashion blocked her shot, a play Houston Coach Van Chancellor said later was the key play of the game.

* At 1:50, Swoopes rebounded a Timms miss, was fouled on the play, and made two free throws and it was 75-67.

She finished with 16 points and six assists . . . then watched Cooper--23 points, six assists--win the series’ MVP award a second year in a row.

This has grown old for both, fueling expectations one will be moved elsewhere in the off-season.

“They’re crowding each other on that team,” said a WNBA insider.

“It’s about sponsorship dollars from the same sponsors . . . and it is also about which one gets to be Michael Jordan.”

Cooper seemed to hope afterward maybe now no one leaves.

“Maybe we showed tonight we can play together, but I’m not in the front office,” she said.

Comet Coach Van Chancellor credited Swoopes’ great block on Timms. “Did you see her knock over her own teammate to get to Timms? I did, and I think that was the play of the game,” he said.

“Sheryl came through big for them,” said a disheartened Michelle Griffiths, who had a game-high 24 points. “It seemed like she had the ball in her hands all the time at the end, and we had to foul her.”

Swoopes was nine for 10 from the line.

Former Trojan Tina Thompson hurt Phoenix with by making four of six three-pointers. And 5-5 Kim Perrot emerged from a slump with 13 points and five big rebounds, all in the second half.

The Mercury’s Jennifer Gillom, who scored 20 points, conceded Houston won it with three-point shooting, noting Phoenix actually had one more field goal than Houston. The Comets were seven for 14 from three-point range, Phoenix three for 13.

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WNBA Finals

HOUSTON VS. PHOENIX

(Houston wins series, 2-1)

* Game 1: Phoenix 54, Houston 51

* Game 2: Houston 74, Phoenix 69 (OT)

* Game 3: Houston 80, Phoenix 71