Sacramento 70, New York 63
NEW YORK, June 8 (AP) -- Ticha Penicheiro scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Sacramento Monarchs to a 70-63 victory over the New York Liberty on Sunday.
Nicole Powell had 13 points, Kara Lawson and Adrian Williams-Strong had 11 each and Rebekkah Brunson added 10 for Sacramento (3-4). Williams-Strong also had nine rebounds.
Lisa Willis scored 11 points, Cathrine Kraayeveld had 10, and Tiffany Jackson added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Liberty (3-4), who had won two straight overall and three in a row at home.
New York shot 35 percent from the field, including just 6-for-21 on 3-pointers.
Leilani Mitchell, making her second straight start in place of the injured Loree Moore for the Liberty, finished with just two points but had a team season-high eight assists.
After Willis' 3-pointer gave New York a 56-50 lead with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter, the Monarchs went on a 15-1 run to take an eight point lead. Lawson's three-point play with 3:43 to go capped a 10-point spurt and gave Sacramento a four-point lead, and her 3-pointer 1:19 later pushed the advantage to 65-57.
Kraayeveld hit a jumper with 2:12 left - New York's second field goal of the quarter - and Shameka Christon had a fast-break layup 23 seconds later to pull the Liberty to 65-61.
However, Christon missed a 16-foot jumper along the left baseline with 1:09 to go, and Penicheiro hit a jumper and two free throws in the final minute to seal Sacramento's first road win of the season.
The Monarchs opened the third quarter with a 7-3 run to take a 40-39 lead on Penicheiro's three-point play with 7:57 left. There were three ties and three lead changes in the quarter and neither team led by more than three points.
The Monarchs jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first 3:13 of the game.
New York rebounded by scoring the next 13 points, including six by Essence Carson. Willis hit a 3 and Jackson had a layup to stretch the Liberty's lead to 19-11 in the final minute of the first quarter.
Sacramento had an 8-1 run, capped by two layups by Brunson, to take a 22-21 lead with 4 1/2 left in the second quarter.
However, Erin Thorn and Mitchell hit two free throws each, and then Thorn hit a 3 to give the Liberty a 28-22 lead a minute later. Jackson's layup with 6.3 seconds to go in the first half pushed New York's lead to 36-33 at the break.
New York shot just 2-for-11 from the field in the second quarter, but still scored 17 points thanks to a 12-for-14 effort on free throws.
