WNBA ROUNDUP Sunday's games

Liberty 71, Rockers 54
CLEVELAND -- Crystal Robinson made all eight of her shots and scored 19 points to lead New York. With the victory, the Liberty stayed in contention for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York won for the fifth time in its last eight games and tied Indiana for fifth place at 14-16. Chasity Melvin scored 13 points to lead Cleveland, which had a three-game winning streak snapped and dropped into a third-place tie with Connecticut at 15-15. "We were hot, we were on fire," Liberty coach Richie Adubato said. "When you are tired, you don't play sharp. This was do or die for us, so we had to reach back." The Liberty will become the first team in WNBA history to play on three consecutive days when they host the Houston Comets on Monday night in a makeup of a game postponed last Thursday because of the blackout. "That will be our 11th game in 17 days," Adubato said, "so we have to reach back again." Tari Phillips scored 18 points, Elena Baranova scored 14 and Vickie Johnson had 11 points as New York bounced back from an 84-71 loss at home Saturday to win at Gund Arena for just the third time in 12 games. Robinson scored nine points in the first 7:41 as the Liberty took a 14-9 lead. New York used a 21-2 run to open a 33-11 advantage on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 6:43 to play in the first half. Robinson scored 13 points in the half as the Liberty took a 42-20 lead into the break. "Seeing as how she didn't miss a shot, I'm not so sure we did guard her," Rockers coach Dan Hughes said of Robinson. "We wanted to play well -- we just didn't." The Rockers shot just 25 percent from the field, including 1-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half. Penny Taylor finished with 12 points and rookie LaToya Thomas scored 10 for the Rockers.
CLEVELAND -- Crystal Robinson made all eight of her shots and scored 19 points to lead New York. With the victory, the Liberty stayed in contention for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York won for the fifth time in its last eight games and tied Indiana for fifth place at 14-16. Chasity Melvin scored 13 points to lead Cleveland, which had a three-game winning streak snapped and dropped into a third-place tie with Connecticut at 15-15. "We were hot, we were on fire," Liberty coach Richie Adubato said. "When you are tired, you don't play sharp. This was do or die for us, so we had to reach back." The Liberty will become the first team in WNBA history to play on three consecutive days when they host the Houston Comets on Monday night in a makeup of a game postponed last Thursday because of the blackout. "That will be our 11th game in 17 days," Adubato said, "so we have to reach back again." Tari Phillips scored 18 points, Elena Baranova scored 14 and Vickie Johnson had 11 points as New York bounced back from an 84-71 loss at home Saturday to win at Gund Arena for just the third time in 12 games. Robinson scored nine points in the first 7:41 as the Liberty took a 14-9 lead. New York used a 21-2 run to open a 33-11 advantage on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 6:43 to play in the first half. Robinson scored 13 points in the half as the Liberty took a 42-20 lead into the break. "Seeing as how she didn't miss a shot, I'm not so sure we did guard her," Rockers coach Dan Hughes said of Robinson. "We wanted to play well -- we just didn't." The Rockers shot just 25 percent from the field, including 1-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half. Penny Taylor finished with 12 points and rookie LaToya Thomas scored 10 for the Rockers.
Shock 95, Storm 86
SEATTLE -- Deanna Nolan scored 18 points as Detroit rallied from a 21-2 deficit. Seattle (16-14) fell a half-game behind Minnesota (17-14) and Sacramento (17-14) in the race for the Western Conference's final postseason berth. The Storm are in fifth place, and only the top four teams make the playoffs. Detroit (22-9) missed its first 12 shots of the game before Nolan hit the Shock's first field goal -- a three-pointer with 12:21 remaining in the half. In the second half, the Shock used an 18-2 run to take a 71-66 lead.