WNBA ROUNDUP Sting rolls to fourth-straight win

Becky Hammon scored a career-high 33 points to lead the New York Liberty.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Andrea Stinson scored 17 points and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Charlotte Sting to a 69-58 victory Friday over the Houston Comets.
It was the fourth straight win for the Sting (4-1).
With the game tied at 53, Kelly Miller hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 6:53 left to ignite an 11-1 Sting run.
Two free throws by Sutton-Brown with 3:37 left put Charlotte up 64-54, and the Comets got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Tina Thompson had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Sheryl Swoopes added 16 points for Houston (3-3), which lost for the third time in four games.
The Eastern Conference-leading Sting took their largest lead at 45-33 on Sutton-Brown's shot in the paint with 16:32 to go.
But Thompson, the Comets' all-time leading scorer playing in only her third game this season due to injury and suspension, took over.
Thompson hit a 3-pointer, a turnaround jumper and finally a breakaway layup to tie it a 49 with 9:22 left.
Stinson, starting her 191st consecutive game for the Sting, was averaging only 10.3 points a game coming into the game. She made 6 of 14 shots and hit her first two 3-pointers of the season as Charlotte beat Houston for only the fourth time in 18 meetings.
The Comets, playing without injured point guard Cynthia Cooper, missed 14 of their first 16 shots as Charlotte jumped out to a 14-5 lead. Houston made it 21-19 before Stinson scored four points in a 9-3 run to close the half, putting the Sting ahead 30-22.
Liberty 70, Lynx 60
MINNEAPOLIS -- Becky Hammon scored a career-high 33 points to lead the New York Liberty.
Hammon, starting in place of the injured Vickie Johnson, made 12 of 16 field goals, including six 3-pointers for the Liberty (2-1).
Hammon's fifth 3 of the game put her over the 1,000 career-point mark. She has 1,012 career points.
The Lynx (3-2), who rallied in the second half in all of their victories this year, went on a 19-6 run to trim a 15-point deficit to 57-55.
They had three possessions with a chance to tie or take the lead, but couldn't convert. Then Teresa Weatherspoon made a layup and Hammon hit two free throws to restore a six-point lead.
Katie Smith led the Lynx with 12 points. Minnesota missed its first 13 attempts from 3-point range before Smith connected with 10:22 left in the second half. The Lynx finished 4-for-24 from 3-point range.
Things went so well for Hammon that she scored the Liberty's final basket by releasing the ball from her hip while falling down.
Hammon, who had a group of friends and family in attendance from her hometown of Stevens, S.D., scored 10 points during a 15-5 New York run that closed the first half. The Liberty led 28-24 at the break.