CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- The Charlotte Sting missed an opportunity to re-sign interim coach Dan Hughes in the offseason, and they are paying for it.

Eva Nemcova scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half and Hughes won his first game against his former team as the Cleveland Rockers kept the Sting winless with a 69-53 victory.

An assistant at the beginning of last year, Hughes took over as interim coach of Charlotte when Marynell Meadors was fired after 12 games. He led the Sting to a 10-10 mark and an appearance in the Eastern Conference finals before losing to New York.

Hughes was not offered the permanent position by Charlotte after the season and the Perrysburg, Ohio native quickly was scooped up by Cleveland.

"I had a lot of mixed feelings about coming back to Charlotte," Hughes said. "Yes, I was close to coaching the Sting this year. But I appreciate the opportunity Charlotte gave me and I will always have strong feelings for the players."

The Rockers (2-1) raced to a 12-2 lead three minutes into the contest, with Merlakia Jones scoring the final seven points, including a short jumper to end the spurt. Eva Nemcova tallied the team's first five points.

Cleveland was not done, as a 13-2 run increased its lead to 27-9 with 8:26 remaining. Mery Andrade poured in six points, including a 3-pointer to finish the run, and Nemcova chipped in five.

"We were able to hit some wide open shots in the first half and get a nice lead," Nemcova said. "I play best in this tempo. I feel very comfortable running and spreading out the floor. We have to stay focused and keep the rhythm going."

Jones and Andrade scored seven points apiece in the opening 20 minutes for the Rockers, who shot 45 percent (13-of-29) and were 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Cleveland owned a 26-9 rebounding advantage and had as many assists (11) as the Sting had turnovers.

The Rockers gained their biggest lead, 47-21, with 17:07 to play on Suzie McConnell-Serio's 3-pointer.

Charlotte shot an abysmal 24 percent (7-of-29) from the floor and missed all four of its 3-point attempts. The Sting, who are the only other team besides the Houston Comets to make the playoffs in each of the WNBA's first three years, also started 0-3 in 1997.

"The first half, it wasn't a game," Charlotte coach T.R. Dunn said. "We didn't play in the first half. I take sole responsibility for that. We have to work harder. I'm not blaming the players. We have to make sure we have players out there who are getting it done."

Charlotte, which was outrebounded 38-23, has dropped eight straight regular-season contests dating to last season.

Nemcova shot 6-of-10 from the floor and Jones was 5-of-10, but the rest of the Rockers hit just 26 percent (8-of-31). Andrade and Rushia Brown added eight points each.

Rhonda Mapp scored 17 points and Andrea Stinson added 15 for the Sting, who connected on just 35 percent (20-of-58) of its attempts. Dawn Staley added seven points, but no one else had more than three.

"We've got to come together as a team," Stinson said. "Rebounds were an issue again. We need to focus on each game now, not any games down the road.

Cleveland won for just the second time in seven meetings at Charlotte and leads the all-time series, 7-6.