Liberty Increases Its Lead in the East

Vickie Johnson scored 20 points as the New York Liberty increased its lead in the Eastern Conference with a 71-58 victory Sunday over the Sting in front of 9,878 at Charlotte, N.C.

Crystal Robinson had 16 points and Tari Phillips had 15 for the Liberty (17-10), which won for the seventh time in eight games. New York has a two-game lead over second-place Washington.

“We are looking for the home-court advantage in the playoffs,” Liberty Coach Richie Adubato said. “We want to win the East, and we have to win just about every game to do that.”

Andrea Stinson had 16 points and six rebounds, and Dawn Staley scored 14 for the Sting (14-14), which lost its fifth consecutive game.

Minnesota 73, Seattle 60--Georgia Schweitzer, filling in for injured starter Svetlana Abrosimova, scored a career-high 17 points as the Lynx (9-19) defeated the Storm (15-14) in front of 6,777 at Minneapolis. Schweitzer scored 13 points in the first half, one shy of her previous career-high, on five-for-seven shooting. Katie Smith also scored 17 points for Minnesota. Abrosimova sat out because of a strained back.

Orlando 63, Portland 61--Shannon Johnson scored 18 points as the Miracle (14-14) defeated the Fire (16-13) in front of 5,822 at Orlando, Fla.

Alisa Burras scored 16 points for Portland, which had 18 turnovers and lost for the first time in five road games against Eastern Conference teams.

Miami 55, Washington 50--Sheri Sam scored 13 points as the Sol (13-16) sent the Mystics (15-12) to their sixth consecutive loss in front of 11,390 at Miami. Reserve Iziane Castro Marques had 11 points in the first half for Miami, which had lost four of five games on its recent trip. Ruth Riley scored 10 points and had six rebounds.

Detroit 91, Phoenix 75--Rookie Swin Cash had 14 points and nine rebounds as the Shock (8-20) defeated the Mercury (9-19) in a battle of two of the WNBA’s worst teams in front of 6,977 at Auburn Hills, Mich. Phoenix fell to 0-14 on the road, and has lost a league-record 20 in a row away from home.