Saturday, July 19, 2003
The Rockers' Penny Taylor had a season-high 18 points in a 66-57 loss.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Tangela Smith scored 22 points and Ticha Penicheiro had a season-high 15 assists Tuesday to lead the Sacramento Monarchs to a 66-57 victory over the Cleveland Rockers.
The Monarchs were without interim coach John Whisenant, who experienced an allergic reaction to medication before the game. Assistant Tom Abatemarco took over for Whisenant, who won his only game since replacing the fired Maura McHugh.
Adversity
"We've had so much adversity it is amazing," Abatemarco said. "These players lose a head coach they liked in Maura, then our new head coach got ill just before the game. All of a sudden, I had to do it.
"The good news is John is fine. We'll meet him at the airport with a win."
Penny Taylor scored a season-high 18 points to lead Cleveland. Betty Lennox scored 10 points off the bench for Cleveland, all in the first half. Kara Lawson added 14 points for the Monarchs.
Smith fouled out with 3 minutes, 24 seconds to play, and the Monarchs ahead 58-53, but not before she and Penicheiro took control. Smith scored 10 consecutive points -- on five assists from Penicheiro -- late in the first half to help Sacramento overcome a 30-19 deficit.
"Ticha knows where everybody is on the court at all times," Smith said. "She would rather get an assist than score. So I just keep running and I'm confident she'll get me the ball."
The Monarchs regained the lead at 41-38 on the second straight 3-pointer by Edna Campbell that capped a 12-4 run to start the second half. Smith scored on a tip-in, then took a pass from Penicheiro and scored on a layup to make it a 23-8 run and 52-42 lead.
Assessment
"It really was a roller-coaster game," Taylor said. "We had great times where everything went right. Then we had times where we didn't stop them in transition and didn't rebound."
Rockers guard Helen Darling was carried from the court by teammates with 16:03 remaining after colliding with Lawson. Darling was treated for a bruised knee and returned five minutes later to hit a 3-pointer and help spark a Cleveland comeback.
Taylor helped the Rockers pull within 58-55 with 2:30 to play. A 3-pointer by Lawson gave Sacramento a 61-55 advantage and DeMya Walker split a double-team to score to make it 63-55 with one minute remaining.