Weatherspoon Breaks Nose, Liberty Wins

Tari Phillips scored 18 points Friday night as New York defeated the visiting Orlando Miracle, 70-57, the sixth consecutive victory for the Liberty in front of 17,114.

The Eastern Conference-leading Liberty (19-10) lost guard Teresa Weatherspoon when she broke her nose with 7:32 remaining after colliding with Shannon Johnson on a fastbreak as Johnson went for a steal. Weatherspoon ran into a cameraman under the New York basket and appeared to hit her head and neck on his knee.

Weatherspoon was briefly knocked unconscious and walked off the court four minutes later with the help of a trainer. She was taken to a hospital and held overnight for observation.

Adrienne Johnson had 14 points for Orlando (14-15).

Sacramento 74, Minnesota 63--Yolanda Griffith scored 24 points and tied a season high with 17 rebounds as the Monarchs (20-10) clinched a playoff berth with a victory over the Lynx (13-16) in front of 6,910 at Minneapolis.

Griffith scored 14 points in the first half as Sacramento took a 38-25 halftime lead.

Houston 81, Portland 56--Cynthia Cooper scored 26 points to lead the Comets (24-5) over the Fire (10-19) in front of 9,975 at Portland, Ore.

Sheryl Swoopes, who missed Houston’s last game with a sprained index finger, made 11 of 12 shots for 23 points.

Washington 96, Detroit 72--Murriel Page scored 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three blocks to lead the Mystics (13-16) to a victory over the Shock (12-17) in front of 16,548 at Washington.

Indiana 87, Cleveland 75--Alicia Thompson scored 18 points to lead the Fever (8-21) to a victory over the Rockers (16-13) in front of 11,685 at Indianapolis.

Miami 60, Charlotte 50--Sheri Sam scored 21 points and Kristen Rasmussen added 14 as the expansion Sol (11-19) defeated the Sting (7-22) in front of 7,780 at Miami.