Fever get better of Shock once again

Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer has seen the same pattern develop the last two seasons with his struggling team.

“It’s the same old routine,” Laimbeer said after the Shock lost to the Indiana Fever for the second time in three days, 59-58 on Sunday in Detroit. “We didn’t play hard enough and we didn’t want the game bad enough.”

Detroit has lost three straight and is 3-10 since starting the season with four straight wins. They are now 24-27 in the past two seasons despite fielding four All-Stars – the core of the team that won the WNBA championship in 2003.

“We’ve been talking about this for over a year now,” Laimbeer said. “We’ve had the same issues with the same players and the same combinations. Our starters are getting us down 6-10 points at the beginning of every game and they can’t score. We’re going to have to make some changes.”

Tamika Catchings scored 21 points for Indiana , who has won three straight.

“She did many things,” Fever coach Brian Winters said. “She led us in scoring, but she also made a lot good plays and only had two turnovers.”

Kelly Miller added 10 points for the Fever, who beat the Shock 62-57 at home Friday night.

“We made a few mistakes down the stretch, but the biggest thing was just trying to keep our composure,” Catchings said.

Comets 67, Sting 65: Sheryl Swoopes scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the final 10 minutes, helping Houston break open a close game and defeat Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C.

Michelle Snow added 17 points for the Comets, while Janeth Arcain chipped in 13.

Tammy Sutton-Brown led the Sting with 14 points and Allison Feaster added 12.

Swoopes, who came in averaging 18.5 points a game, was quiet in the first half, scoring only two points. But with the game tied at 49, Swoopes began to take over, finishing 9 of 15 from the field with six steals and four assists.

Sun 72, Lynx 53: Margo Dydek scored a season-high 17 points, leading four Connecticut players in double figures, and the Sun pulled away in the second half to beat Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Katie Douglas added 14 points, Nykesha Sales had 12 and Taj McWilliams-Franklin 10 for the Sun, who improved to 12-1 against the Western Conference. Lindsay Whalen, the all-time leading scorer at the University of Minnesota, had six points.

Katie Smith, who did not score in the final 29 minutes, and Amanda Lassiter scored 11 points each to lead Minnesota, which saw its six-game home winning streak end. Nicole Ohlde added 10 points.