The Comets defeated their (historically) arch-rivals Sparks, 66-56.
It was bound to happen eventually, but I'm not sure anyone expected it: the most boring game of the year, and it was played against the LA Sparks. Another first?... I felt little competitive emotion, and to the contrary, I actually felt sorry for the Sparks... just a little bit.
The first quarter should be billed as a desparate fight for first draft pick, and while the pace picked up a bit, the overall game was still what I would term a 'sleeper'.
Turnovers: Comets 19, Sparks 11
Fast Break Points: Comets 2, Sparks 13
Biggest Lead: Comets 12, Sparks 0
Points in the Paint: Comets 28, Sparks 20
FG%: Comets 32.8, Sparks, 28.6
3FG%: Comets 25.0, Sparks 14.3
FT%: Comets 71.4, Sparks 73.7
Total Rebounds: Comets 50, Sparks 37
Tina Thompson led with 13 points (10 rebounds), and Tamecka Dixon was the only other Comet with double points, with 12 (7 rebounds).
Tina Thompson 13
Tamecka Dixon 12
Sancho Lyttle 9
Michelle Snow 9
Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 6
Roneeka Hodges 5
Crystal Smith 4
Erin Grant 4
Barbara Turner 2
Mistie Williams 2 (yippeeeeee!)
Mwadi Mabika (who if history is any predictor, will soon play for the Comets) was lead scorer and the only Spark in double points, with 10. *Game Side Note: I had the sincere pleasure of meeting L.A. Forward-Center Jessica Moore's mother tonight. And after visting with 'Mom'... Jessica has a new fan!
*Photo Credit: Bob Levy, Houston Chronicle: Michelle Show shoots over Taj McWilliams-Franklin.
In an excitement filled nail biter, the Mercury defeated the (Jekyll and Hyde) Comets 76-74 tonight, making it a clean sweep for the season.
It was a tight game, with the exception of the Comets jumping out to a 12-0 lead. The Mercury answered, however, with 14 straight points. There were 9 lead changes, and the score was tied 10 times. It truly wasn't over until the buzzer sounded.
Turnovers: Comets 21, Mercury 22
Fast Break Points: Comets 2, Mercury 22 (OUCH!)
Biggest Lead: Comets 12, Mercury 6
Points in the Paint: Comets 36, Mercury 34
FG%: Comets 37.3%, Mercury 45.9%
3FG%: Comets 26.7%, Mercury 31.6%
FT%: Comets 73.7%, Mercury 87.5% (*See the difference it makes!)
Total Rebounds: Comets 44, Mercury 27
The "on again" Michelle Snow showed up to play tonight, and lead scoring with 21 points, but there was a nice distribution of points:
Michelle Snow 21
Sancho Lyttle 15
Tamecka Dixon 14
Tina Thompson 12
Crystal Smith 8
Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 2
Barbara Turner 2
Lead scorers for the Mercury: Diana Taurasi led the Mercury with 19 (awesome) points, and Cappie Pondexter had 14.
It was a tough loss, but for those of us who suffered through watching Sunday's pitiful performance... it was also a relief!
*Game Side Show Side Note: Sheryl Swoopes was on the bench, looking very fresh and attractive, in a brief but simple and beautiful buttery yellow dress.
Or should this post be titled, "Thank You, Tamecka Dixon!".
Tonight, (drum roll...) our Houston Comets both defeated their I-10 rivals and West's best San Antonio Silver Stars 69-63, and rise to 8-16, a half game out of fifth place in the West.
Turnovers: Comets 18, SS 15
Fast Break Points: Comets 13, SS 4 (wow)
Biggest lead: Comets 13, SS 3
Unanswered Points: Comets 1, SS 0
Points in the Paint: Comets 30, SS 20
Field Goals Made-Attempted: Comets 26-57, 45.6%, SS 21-70, 30.0%
3 Pointers Made-Attempted: Comets 4-11, 36.4%, SS 5-25.0%
Free Throws Made-Attempted: Comets 13-20, 65.0%, SS 16-21, 76.2%
Total Rebounds: Comets 34 , Sun 39
It was an exciting and comfortable game to listen to, and the Comets seemed to rise once again to their potential.
Tamecka Dixon 21 (helloooo!)
Tina Thompson 17 (with people all over her!)
Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 8
Crystal Smith 8
Michelle Snow 7
Roneeka Hodges 6
Barbara Turner 2
Points don't always tell the story of who contributes to a win. Becky Hammon was held to 11 points. Rebounds and assists played an important part, too:
Tina Thompson 8, 3
Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 7, 2
Sancho Lyttle 7, 0
Michelle Snow 5, 2
Roneeka Hodges 4, 1
Tamecka Dixon 3, 2
Crystal Smith 0, 4
We established excellent momentum to take on the Sky on Sunday afternoon!
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 18Tamecka Dixon 18 (hellooooo!)Barbara Turner 15 (nice surprise!)Sancho Lyttle 10Michelle Snow 6Hamchetou Maiga-Ba 4Crystal Smith 4Ashley Shields 4Katie Douglas led for the Sun with 25 and Asjha Jones had 22.Up next for the Comets... Silver Stars in San Antonio, Friday night.
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.
The Comets defeated their (historically) arch-rivals Sparks, 66-56.
