Cleveland Rocks Shock, Clinches Conference Title

Reserve Penny Taylor scored 14 points as the Cleveland Rockers clinched the Eastern Conference regular-season title with a 73-66 victory over the Detroit Shock in front of 10,978 Wednesday night at Cleveland.

Cleveland (22-7) improved to 14-1 at home and secured home-court advantage for the conference playoffs.

Taylor, a first-round pick from Australia, made consecutive three-pointers midway through the second half as Cleveland overcame an 11-point deficit.

Astou Ndiaye-Diatta led Detroit (8-21) with 19 points.

Miami 42, Washington 36--Sheri Sam scored 15 points for the Sol, which won in front of 16,191 at Washington. The teams combined for the lowest point total in WNBA history. The Sol and Mystics shot a combined 25 for 102 (24.5%).

They were 0 for 26 from three-point range.

New York 82, Utah 63--Vickie Johnson had 18 points to lead five double-figure scorers for the Liberty (19-10), which snapped the Starzz’s eight-game winning streak in front of 17,018 at New York.

Seattle 72, Houston 55--Simone Edwards scored 17 points and Michelle Marciniak had 13 as the Storm (10-19) won at Seattle in front of 6,003. The victory was Seattle’s first over Houston, the four-time defending WNBA champion. Janeth Arcain led Houston (18-11) with 24 points.

Minnesota 70, Portland 58--Katie Smith had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and the Lynx won at Portland in front of 8,315. Smith needs 12 points to break the WNBA season scoring record of 686, set by Houston’s Cynthia Cooper in 1998.