07.08Detroit Takes Lead in Eastern Conference with a Win Over Connecticut Sun
Plenette Pierson scored 23 points and Katie Smith added 17 to help the Detroit Shock beat the Connecticut Sun 88-82 Tuesday.
Detroit took a half-game lead over the Sun for first place in the conference.
“We’re hoping that it won’t come back to the tiebreaker, but this way, if it does come down to it, we’ve got it,” coach Bill Laimbeer said. “That could be huge.”
Asjha Jones led the Sun with 21, but Detroit held her to only five in the second half. Lindsay Whalen finished with 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but the Sun bench was outscored 35-16 by Detroit’s reserves.
Cheryl Ford and Deanna Nolan added 16 points each for Detroit while Kara Braxton scored 10.
The Shock rallied and took a 63-61 lead into the fourth, and the teams traded the advantage for most of the final period.
Ford, though, finally took control of the game. She scored nine points in a 7 minute stretch, helping the Shock build a late 80-75 advantage. Nolan followed with a 3 that put Detroit up by 8 with 1:54 to go, and they held on for the win.
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