 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- It took almost everything by Ticha Penichiero, but she helped the Sacramento Monarchs finally earn a victory. Penichiero scored 23 points and handed out nine assists as the Monarchs snapped their four-game skid to begin the season by pulling out a 78-77 victory in double overtime over the New York Liberty. Sacramento was playing its fourth straight game without injured All-Star Yolanda Griffith and Penichiero helped pick up the slack. The Portuguese native scored 20 points after halftime and also had five assists and five steals. A basket by Tamika Whitmore gave New York its final lead at 74-72 with 2:23 remaining before Penichiero assisted on a basket by Ruthie Bolton that put the Monarchs ahead to stay. The same combination produced another basket for a three-point edge with 72 seconds to go. The Liberty's Becky Hammon missed a jumper before Kedra Holland-Corn was whistled for an offensive foul for Sacramento with 31 seconds remaining. New York inexplicably took too much time in looking for a shot and Crystal Robinson was stripped by Bolton with two seconds left. Bolton made 1-of-2 from the line to offset a meaningless 3-pointer by Hammon at the buzzer. La'Keshia Frett scored 14 points, Holland-Corn 13 and Bolton added 12 for Sacramento, which let a seven-point lead with 3:43 left in regulation slip away. The Monarchs also survived a missed 3-pointer by Robinson at the end of the first extra session. Whitmore scored 21 points and Tari Phillips added 20 for New York, which went 2-2 on a four-game road trip. The Liberty fell to 6-3 after playing seven of their first nine games on the road. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
