HOUSTON (AP) -- There was a time Crystal Robinson might have
hesitated. She didn't Saturday.
Robinson's 3-pointer with 19 seconds left and Vickie Johnson's two free throws with four seconds remaining gave the New York Liberty a 64-61 victory over the Houston Comets on Saturday.
"Crystal used to miss two or three shots and she'd get down on herself," New York coach Richie Adubato said. "We told her that we wanted her to keep shooting."
Teresa Weatherspoon fed Robinson the ball as Comets guard Janeth
Arcain, who was guarding Robinson, pulled off.
"The person guarding Crystal left her to go after Spoon," Adubato said. "If you're going to leave somebody open, you don't want it to be Crystal. She can shoot."
Robinson led the Liberty with 15 points, and Tari Phillips and
Sue Wicks each added 14.
Houston led 49-41 with 9:32 to play, but the Liberty rallied and
took a 59-55 lead with 2:53 to play on a basket by Phillips.
Phillips scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter. She
left the court briefly after being hit in the mouth by Thompson
with 6:55 to play.
"I'm glad I had the opportunity to take the shot," Robinson
said. "I think my percentage is probably better than probably
anybody in the league to take a last-second shot. I was looking
forward to taking that shot."
Tina Thompson made only 4 of 20 shots for the game, but her
3-point basket with 1:03 to play and two free throws with 32
seconds remaining gave the Comets a 61-59 lead before the Liberty
rallied.
"When it (Robinson's 3-pointer) went in I thought we had 20 seconds," Houston's Coquese Washington said. "At that point, I thought we were still going to get a shot and a win."
Thompson missed two shots over the final seconds.
The Comets lost for the sixth time in eight games. It was a franchise record third straight home loss.
"We have a different team," Thompson said. "We are going through some changes and I think this is one of them. At this point, I think we are either going to pick up, move on and go or dwell on it."
Arcain led the Comets with 19 points, Thompson had 14 and Washington added 11. Thompson finished with 9 rebounds, joining Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie as the only players in the WNBA to surpass 1,000 career rebounds.
"Today was a big game for us," Weatherspoon said. "I think
because we've been here quite a few times and left without the
prize, and that is was a little more motivation for us to come out
and play harder."
New York has lost three WNBA championship series to the Comets.
"I was honored to be their coach today," Comets coach Van Chancellor said. "We just came up on the short end."
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
New York team page
Houston team page
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