Comets Draw the Line Against Mercury, 69-58

Nothing stops the Houston Comets at the Compaq Center.

Not 20% shooting in the first half.

And not the Phoenix Mercury.

The three-time defending champion Comets avenged last month’s 18-point loss at Phoenix to remain perfect at home with a 69-58 victory over the Mercury Sunday before a crowd of 13,865.

The victory was Houston’s sixth in a row and improved its WNBA-best record to 15-2.

After trailing 25-21 at halftime, the Comets opened the second half with a 24-2 run. Cynthia Cooper scored nine of her 20 points and Tina Thompson added seven of her nine points during the spree.

Sheryl Swoopes also finished with 20 points on three-for-11 shooting for the Comets, who made only six of 30 field-goal attempts in the first half.

The difference came at the free throw line, where Swoopes was 13 for 15, and the Comets were 28 for 30 (93.3%) overall. The Mercury made seven of 12 (58.3%) free throws.

Phoenix did come back to cut Houston’s 23-point lead to five with less than a minute remaining, but the Comets sealed the victory with six consecutive free throws, two by Janeth Arcain and four by Tiffani Johnson.

Tonya Edwards led Phoenix (9-6) with 14 points. Brandy Reed, who had 32 points in Phoenix’s previous victory over Houston, was limited to six points on two-for-11 shooting.

Minnesota 81, Portland 75--Katie Smith scored 32 points and Betty Lennox had 29 as the Lynx registered their fourth win in five games with the victory before 6,661 at Minneapolis.

Portland’s Sophia Witherspoon set the record for most points by a Lynx opponent with 31, 25 in the second half. Minnesota (10-5) used a 25-9 run to erase a 6-0 deficit to Portland (3-10), which finished with 28 turnovers.

It was Minnesota’s first game without forward Andrea Lloyd Curry, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Friday. Former UCLA standout Maylana Martin started for the Lynx, finishing with six points and three rebounds in 21 minutes.