WNBA PLAYOFFS Donaphin's goal advances New York to Eastern finals

ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- Bethany Donaphin hit a turnaround jumper with .5 seconds remaining to lift the New York Liberty to a 66-64 victory over the defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock on Tuesday night and into the Eastern Conference finals.
Becky Hammon, who made the pass to Donaphin for the winning basket, scored a playoff career-high 20 points and Crystal Robinson added 17 -- including three 3-pointers in the final 5 1/2 minutes -- for New York, which trailed by 15 points in the opening minute of the second half.
New York will play the winner of the Washington-Connecticut semifinal. The conference final starts Friday.
Deanna Nolan had 16 points and eight rebounds for Detroit,
Monarchs 73, Sparks 58
LOS ANGELES -- Tangela Smith, DeMya Walker and Kara Lawson each scored 17 points to lead Sacramento over the Sparks and into WNBA Western Conference finals.
Yolanda Griffith added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Monarchs, who won the best-of-three series 2-1. Sacramento will face the Seattle Storm on Friday.
Mwadi Mabika scored 19 points for the Sparks, the team with the best regular-season record at 25-9. The defending Western Conference champion was eliminated in the first round for the first time in club history.
Nikki Teasley added 16 points and Lisa Leslie had 11 points and 12 rebounds.