Comets Deluged by Sky (And TS Erin)

Tropical Storm Erin, with her predictions of "minor street flooding", wreaked havoc on Houston earlier today.

Thanks to "the Angel" and his high water rescue, I'm home safe and sound, but since my car is still high (and hopefully dry) in the parking garage at work, my game experience is by webcast tonight.

And just like TS Erin did, totally unexpectedly, the Sky wreaked havoc on the Comets tonight. Losing this one, pretty much right from the first jump. Chicago started the game by outscoring the Comets 21-2, with Houston pulling to a 41-34 lead at halftime. And that's as good as it got.

Turnovers: Comets 16, Sky 8
Steals: Comets 5, Sky 5
Blocks: Comets 4, Sky 1
Fast Break Points: Comets 7, Sky 8
Biggest lead: Comets 0, Sky 10
Unanswered Points: Comets 3, Sky 0
Lead Changes: 0
Times Tied: 0
Points in the Paint: Comets 20, Sky 24
FG%: Comets 39.1, Sky 43.1
3FG%: Comets 40.9, Sky 50.0
FT%: Comets 94.7, Sky 72.2
Rebounds: Comets 31, Sky 35

The Sky had five players in double figures, but there was a vast point spread amongst the home team Comets. Tina Thompson led the Comets and scored a season-high 33 points on 12 for 20 shooting from the field.

Tina Thompson 33
Tamecka Dixon 14
Sancho Lyttle 8
Michelle Snow 4
Crystal Smith 3
Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 3
Roneeka Hodges 3
Ashley Shields 2

Going into this game, we were already out of contention for the playoffs. Perhaps this pitiful performance was a calculated ploy for a better draft pick

(But am I the only one who has a hard time watching the success of Dominique Canty ???).

Sixteenth Loss: Outshined by the Sun

The lead changed five times in the 4th quarter, but the only lead that counts is the final one. So it was another heart stopping close call as the Comets fell to the Sun, 79-81 this afternoon in Connecticut.

If you analyzed the team stats, without counting up the points, you would likely draw the conclusion that Houston pulled off the win:

Turnovers: Comets 12, Sun 14
Fast Break Points: Comets 6, Sun 2
Biggest lead: Comets 6, Sun 6
Unanswered Points: Comets 0, Sun 4
Points in the Paint: Comets 36, Sun 22
Field Goals Made-Attempted: Comets 30-69, 43.5%, Sun 30-65, 46.2%
3 Pointers Made-Attempted: Comets 6-10, 60.0%, Sun 6-16, 37.5%
Free Throws Made-Attempted: Comets 13-15, 86.7%, Sun 15-18, 83.3%
Total Rebounds: Comets 36, Sun 31

The 12-11 Sun (4th in the Eastern Conference), however, were able to close out their sixth win in a row. And the Comets fall to 7-16 (6th of 7 in the Western Conference).

Thompson and Dixon had a great game. And Turner came off the bench to make a huge difference.

Tina Thompson 18
Tamecka Dixon 18 (hellooooo!)
Barbara Turner 15 (nice surprise!)
Sancho Lyttle 10
Michelle Snow 6
Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 4
Crystal Smith 4
Ashley Shields 4

Katie Douglas led for the Sun with 25 and Asjha Jones had 22.

Up next for the Comets... Silver Stars in San Antonio, Friday night.

7th Win: Comets Snag One in New York

Madison Square Garden... how sweet it is to snag our second road win of the season against the Liberty, 80-74.

The Comets were ahead much of the game (5 lead changes, 6 ties) but it felt mostly neck-and-neck. Our largest lead was 10 points, but we scored only 3 unanswered points. We outrebounded them 33 to 28, and had one more turnover than the Liberty, 17 to their 16.

Tina Thompson 26
Tamecka Dixon 20 (hello!)
Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 10
Sancho Lyttle 6
Michelle Snow 5
Erin Grant 4
Crystal Smith 3
Barbara Turner 2
Mistie Williams 2 (!)
Ashley Shields 2
Roneeka Hodges 0

Cathrine Kraayeveld led for the Liberty, with 31 points!

SIDE NOTE: I can't help but notice that Sheryl Swoopes didn't even appear on the roster, injured, DNP or otherwise. Maybe that's because it was a road game. Or maybe not.

Comets Find the Missing Link: 6th Win Against Lynx

Winning their 6th game, 87-77, in a rough and tumble game against the Minnesota Lynx.

It's true that the Lynx reside with the Comets at the bottom of league standings, but this game was important. And the Comets hustled and fought hard for four solid quarters.

It was Kids Day at Toyota Center, and the little ones got to see everyone (who was dressed to) play... and most of them scored:

Michelle Snow 24 (career high tie)
Tina Thompson 22

Tamecka Dixon 15 (take that, ye with little faith)

Ashley Shields 10 (how about that from a community college graduate?)

Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 7
Crystal Smith 5
Latasha Byears 4

In a way, it was disappointing that Minnesota rookie guard from Cy-Fair, Lindsey Harding, wasn't able to play before a "home" crowd. It was learned, just before the game, that Harding will miss the rest of the season with a torn ligament in her knee.

Seimone Augustus (awesome to watch when you're not playing against her!) led the Lynx with 24. Essentially, if she shot the ball, she scored.

"You can't stop her from scoring," Maiga-Ba said. "But we were able to contain her a little and have a hand in her face for every shot."

I really like this Comets team. The bench is deep and mostly young, and our confidence continues to build!

Photo by Megan True, Houston Chronicle.

Comets Collide with Mercury, Planet Wins

We got third, alright... third quarter, that is.

Up by 8 at the end of the third, the Comets lose by 5.

Something is clearly wrong with Tina, with tepid performance and uber-taped leg. Michelle Snow was all but MIA, but our new gals really stepped up their performances.

Smith... 18
Maiga-Ba... 16
Shields... 16
Thompson... 10
Hodges... 8
Lyttle... 7
Byears... 4
Snow... 4
Moore... 2
Williams... 0

I thought, at times, they looked great and together... and at others, tired, flat footed and inexperienced.

Comets Defie the Mystics with 95 Point Game

Now this is what I'm talking about! Comets make it two in a row! After a somewhat shakey first half, Karleen's crew came out and played for keeps in the second half.

Tamara Moore, Alana Beard, Hamchetou Maiga-Ba, right, scramble for the ball.
(AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Steve Ueckert)

Box Score Highlights: Tina led with 23 points. But the big story is that our li'l rookie, Ashley Shields came off the bench to score 20 points in 21:19 of play! Maiga-Ba was also on fire, with 18 points. Tamara (8), Roneeka (7) and Sancho (&) had pretty good games as well, and their points don't totally reflect the full extent of, nor the timeliness of their contributions.

Note to all: We need to continue to work on those turnovers!!! Yikes, 23! Hang on to the ball, ya'all!

Comets Fire Up First Win Against Sparks

We did it! We really did it!

Not only did the Comets log their first W, but they soundly defeated l.a. in the process!

The final score was 74-64 and while Michelle Snow (21, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turn overs) and Tina Thompson (20, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover) led by far in points, almost everyone who played, scored:

Hodges (9, 4 assists, 1 turn over)
Smith (8, 1 rebound, 4 assists)
Byears (5, 2 rebounds, 1 assist)
Maiga-Ba (5, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 6 turnovers)
Moore (5, 3 rebounds, 3 assists)
Shields (1)

The exceptioins: Sancho Lyttle started, played 13:40, snatched 6 rebounds, caused 3 turnovers and didn't score. Tari Phillips played 3:09 and didn't score but didn't cause any turnovers.

In a game that was equal parts lackluster and brilliance (because we never fell behind), our girls came out and played four complete quarters. They actually got the crowd in the game, for the first time all season. And when the final horn sounded, you would have thought we had won the Championship!

Congratulations Karleen and Hilton... on your first win. (I heard on the radio that Hilton got the game ball. I'm thinking he deserves it because the checks must have cleared!).

OH and 5!

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse... it does.

The Fever soundly... make that SOUNDLY defeated the Comets, 84-59.

Michelle Snow snagged 15, Barbara Turner got 13, Tina got 6 as did Hamchetou Maiga-Ba and Dee Davis, Tamara Moore got 5 and Ashley Shields and Latasha Byears got 4 each. Does that add up to a whopping 59? Dunno... and it doesn't really matter.

Sad, really.

OH and 4!

We set a record tonight... but not in a good way.

For the first time in franchise history, the Houston Comets have lost their first four games... by an average of 14 points.

Comets led 68-59 with just less than 4 minutes to play... and then the fat lady sang.

On the bright side: Michelle Snow and Tina Thompson each scored 20 points, Tamara Moore had 10, Latasha Byears had 8, Ashley Shields (exciting to watch) had 7, and Barbara Turner... 4 and Hamchetou Maiga-Ba finished with 2.