WNBA ROUNDUP Sunday's games

Rockers 71, Fever 67
CLEVELAND -- Now that the Cleveland Rockers have stormed past the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference, they are setting their sights even higher. Chasity Melvin scored 17 points, including the go-ahead basket with four seconds remaining. The Rockers (14-14) took a one-game lead over the Fever (13-15) in the race for the final playoff berth in the East by sweeping a home-and-home weekend series. Cleveland moved into a third-place tie with Connecticut and will play host to the Sun Thursday night. Tamika Catchings led Indiana with 21 points, 10 assists and seven steals, but the Fever lost their fifth in a row and sixth in seven games. "Catchings is remarkable," Rockers coach Dan Hughes said. "She made some marvelous plays, but I'm happy with the way we responded, especially Chas. She really wanted the ball and played strong inside." With the score tied at 67, Melvin drove across the lane and hit a 6-footer to put Cleveland ahead. Merlakia Jones hit two free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining for the final margin. Melvin scored 15 points in the second half, including six straight in a 10-0 run that put Cleveland ahead 60-59 with 6:18 to go. Penny Taylor and Deanna Jackson each hit 3-pointers to end the run. A layup by Natalie Williams put Indiana back in front, and again Cleveland played catch-up for three minutes -- until a layup by Melvin gave the Rockers a 65-64 lead with 2:20 to go. LaToya Thomas, who also scored 17 points for Cleveland, made one free throw with 1:34 remaining. Melvin hit another with 51.5 seconds remaining to make it 67-64. Catchings scored on a layup seven seconds later and Niele Ivey made one of two free throws with 26.8 seconds to go to tie it at 67. "At key points, we just did not knock down the shot," the Fever's Kelly Schumacher said. "The wrong things happened at the wrong time for us." Williams and Schumacher each scored 12 points for Indiana. The win gave Cleveland a 3-0 record against Indiana and the edge in the tie-breaker with the Fever. The teams will meet for the last time in the regular season Aug. 23 in Indiana.
Shock 90, Liberty 87
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Deanna Nolan made a 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds remaining in overtime. Nolan hit the off-balance shot over Crystal Robinson as the shot clock expired. Robinson missed a 3-pointer at the other end and Teresa Weatherspoon's desperation heave at the buzzer also missed. Detroit clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with the win. Nolan led all scorers with 26 points, one short of her career high. Cheryl Ford added 17 for Detroit and Swin Cash had 16. Vickie Johnson led New York with 23 points.
Comets 69, Mercury 46
HOUSTON -- Tina Thompson scored 21 points to lead Houston to its fifth straight win. Sheryl Swoopes added 16 points as the Comets won their ninth straight home game, extending their first-place lead in the Western Conference to one game over Los Angeles. Slobodanka Tuvic and Plenette Pierson scored eight points each for Phoenix.
-- Associated Press