Phillips Helps Liberty Shoot Down Comets

Tari Phillips, a 6-foot-1 center, had 17 points, 11 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals to lead the New York Liberty to a 69-64 victory over the three-time defending WNBA champion Houston Comets on Sunday night before a sellout crowd of 19,563 at New York.

The Liberty (14-10) got two free throws from Crystal Robinson with 7.7 seconds left to seal the victory. Sheryl Swoopes led the Comets (21-4) with 18 points.

New York lost to Houston in last season’s finals.

Minnesota 80, Portland 63--Betty Lennox scored 26 points as the Lynx (11-13) ended a franchise-long eight-game losing streak by beating the Fire (7-16) before 6,379 at Minneapolis.

Utah 69, Orlando 66--Natalie Williams had 23 points and 12 rebounds and made nine of 10 free throws in the final 10:33 to lead the Starzz (13-12) over the Miracle (14-10) before 8,048 at Orlando.