Monarchs Call Halt To 9-Game Losing Streak
WNBA
Ruthie Bolton-Holifield scored 24 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Sacramento Monarchs ended a nine-game losing streak with a 77-64 victory Wednesday night over the Charlotte Sting.
Bridgette Gordon contributed 12 of her 19 points in the second half and added nine rebounds for Sacramento.
Sacramento never trailed in the game.
The victory was the first in five games for coach Heidi VanDerveer, the former Eastern Washington University coach who replaced Mary Murphy on July 28.
Monarchs 77, Sting 64
At Sacramento, Calif.
Charlotte (64) - Bullett 7-15 5-5 19, Congreaves 5-8 4-4 15, Mapp 6-10 3-6 15, Levesque 0-1 0-0 0, Stinson 7-21 1-2 15, Suber 0-2 0-0 0, Manning 0-3 0-2 0, Artis 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 13-19 64.
Sacramento (77) - Gordon 6-14 7-10 19, Byears 5-8 0-0 10, McGee 5-11 2-2 12, Bolton-Holifield 9-21 2-4 24, Tremitiere 2-4 2-2 6, Graves 0-0 0-0 0, Yasen 1-3 0-0 2, Abraham 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 30-64 13-18 77.
Halftime-Sacramento 33, Charlotte 24. 3-Point goals- Charlotte 1-8 (Congreaves 1-1, Bullett 0-1, Suber 0-2, Stinson 0-4), Sacramento 4-8 (Bolton-Holifield 4-6, Gordon 0-1, Tremitiere 0-1). Fouled out-Byears. Rebounds-Charlotte 35 (Bullett 9), Sacramento 46 (Gordon 9). Assists-Charlotte 16 (Stinson 5), Sacramento 19 (Bolton-Holifield 5). Total fouls-Charlotte 15, Sacramento 21. Technical-Mapp. A-5,795.
Mercury 78, Starzz 46
Phoenix
Michele Timms scored eight of her 18 points during a 20-0 run midway through the second half as Phoenix routed Utah.
Phoenix (10-9) outscored the Starzz 32-6 over the final 12:06 of the game en route to its largest victory margin of the season. Utah (6-14) went 7-1/2 minutes without scoring.
Elena Baranova led Utah with 16 points. Toni Foster added 15 points for the Mercury.
Utah (46) - Koss 4-6 0-0 8, Palmer 4-13 4-7 13, Baranova 7-13 0-0 16, Reiss 0-6 1-2 1, Hardmon 2-7 0-0 4, Hicks 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 2-6 0-0 4, Head 0-1 0-0 0, Compain 0-2 0-0 0, Booker 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 5-9 46.
Phoenix (78) - Foster 6-11 3-5 15, Jackson 2-3 1-1 5, Gillom 5-8 1-2 11, Pettis 3-9 0-0 7, Timms 6-14 4-4 18, Webb 0-10 4-4 4, Askamp 4-6 4-6 12, Hagiwara 2-3 0-0 6, Lieberman-Cline 0-0 0-0 0, Ambers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 17-22 78.
Halftime-Phoenix 36, Utah 28. 3-Point goals-Utah 3-15 (Baranova 2-8, Palmer 1-2, Williams 0-1, Reiss 0-2, Compain 0-2), Phoenix 5-16 (Hagiwara 2-3, Timms 2-6, Pettis 1-4, Foster 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Webb 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Utah 30 (Palmer, Baranova 5), Phoenix 58 (Webb, Askamp 9). Assists- Utah 12 (Reiss 5), Phoenix 21 (Timms 7). Total fouls-Utah 23, Phoenix 16. A-11,694.
Mom’s ready to play
Olympic gold medalist Sheryl Swoopes, who delayed her WNBA debut with the Houston Comets to give birth and care for her son, will be activated for tonight’s home game against the Phoenix Mercury.
“I can’t think of a better situation to return,” Swoopes said. “There will be tons of people who have their doubts. I love these situations where people doubt you and you go out and prove them wrong.”