Sting Leaves Mark on Top East Teams

The Charlotte Sting continued its stunning turnaround, beating the New York Liberty, 80-60, on Saturday night at Charlotte, N.C., for consecutive wins over the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Sting, which beat the division-leading Cleveland Rockers Friday night, tied a franchise record with its sixth consecutive victory and set a team mark with its seventh consecutive home win.

Charlotte, which started the season 1-10, improved to 17-14--a WNBA record for the biggest turnaround in a season. The Sting is the fourth-seeded team in the playoffs and will face Cleveland in the first round.

When the game was over, first-year coach Anne Donovan grabbed a microphone and thanked the crowd of 11,737 for supporting the team.

“To you guys who were with us when we were 1-10, you are in our hearts,” she said.

Andrea Stinson led Charlotte with 21 points, making four three-point shots.

Miami 75, Orlando 64--Elena Baranova scored 19 points, and Debbie Black had 15 points and six steals for the Sol before 11,737 at Orlando, Fla.

Sheri Sam had 15 points and five assists for Miami (20-11), which has won five consecutive games to move into position for the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

New York also is 20-11, but Miami holds the tiebreaker with a 2-1 edge in head-to-head meetings. Both teams have one game remaining in the regular season.

Miami won despite setting a WNBA record for fewest rebounds in one game with 13, one fewer than New York had at Charlotte on July 30, 1999.

Orlando is 12-19.

Sacramento 81, Seattle 61--Yolanda Griffith scored 25 points as the Monarchs won before 13,873 at Sacramento to move into second place in the Western Conference.

Sacramento (18-12) is tied with Utah and Houston but has the tiebreaker over both teams with 2-1 head-to-head records.

Jamie Redd led the Storm (10-21) with 24 points, and Michelle Marciniak added 10. Seattle’s Lauren Jackson, averaging 15.2 points, did not play because of a shoulder injury.

Phoenix 73, Portland 62--Trisha Fallon scored a career-high 24 points before 10,823 at Phoenix as the Mercury ended a franchise-record seven-game losing streak.