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SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Natalie Williams scored 17 of her 29 points in the second half to rally the Utah Starzz to a 75-69 victory over the slumping Sacramento Monarchs that tightened the Western Conference playoff race. Williams made 9-of-17 shots and 11-of-13 free throws. She also pulled down 13 rebounds as she played 1999 WNBA Most Valuable Player Yolanda Griffith to a stalemate. "Yolanda is an excellent player," Williams said. "We played together on the Olympic team and we're best friends on the national team, too. But we're both competitors, we love to rebound and we go hard to the hole." Jennifer Azzi had 15 points and eight assists and Margo Dydek added 12 and 10 rebounds for Utah (12-10), which won its third straight game and moved within one game of Sacramento (13-9) in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West. "This is a big win for us. We played very hard," Starzz coach Fred Williams said. "I felt that everyone contributed and Natalie played a great game in the paint." Griffith had a season-high 29 points and 17 rebounds for the Monarchs, who blew a nine-point second-half lead and suffered their third straight loss. Griffith made 13-of-19 shots but did not get much help from her teammates. Ruthie Bolton-Holifield and Kedra Holland-Corn, who average a combined 25.9 points per game, totaled just seven on 3-of-22 shooting tonight. "This was our worst performance of the season," Monarchs coach Sonny Allen said. "This was the first time that we have been really disappointed in our play. We just did not play. We had a lead and blew it. They just dominated the last 10 minutes of play at both ends of the court." Sacramento fell to 8-2 at home and 1-2 against Utah. The teams do not meet again and the Starzz hold the tiebreaker edge if they finish with the same record. Utah is the only WNBA charter franchise that has not made the playoffs. "We definitely have the makings of a playoff team and we just need to stay even through the rest of the season," Azzi said. "I told those guys this is the best team I've ever been on. I think this team can go anywhere. It just depends on how willing we are to put it together and sacrifice." The Monarchs made just 1-of-18 3-pointers. Bolton-Holifield connected from behind the arc to give Sacramento a 58-54 lead with 10:41 remaining before Utah took the lead for good with a 12-4 run. Williams scored five points, including a free throw that gave the Starzz a 61-60 edge with 5:25 left and two more from the line by Adrienne Goodson made it 66-62 with just under four minutes to go. A jumper by Azzi and two more free throws by Williams widened the advantage to 70-63 with 2:09 left and the Starzz led by at least five points thereafter. Goodson scored nine points for Utah, which shot 43 percent (25-of-58), made 24-of-29 free throws and committed just 11 turnovers. The Starzz made 1-of-4 3-pointers. Ticha Penicheiro handed out 11 assists for the Monarchs, who shot just under 43 percent (29-of-68) but were 10-of-17 from the line and committed 15 turnovers. Griffith scored 13 points in the first half, giving Sacramento a 38-34 lead. Her steal and fast-break layup widened the margin to 45-36 with 17:16 remaining. "In the first half, they were beating us on the drive and beating us to the basket," Williams said. "The second half, we said, 'Let's catch them and make them shoot outside' and it paid off for us."
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