GAME 2 / OVERTIME
Comets79
Liberty73
HOUSTON – Now this is how to say goodbye.
In her last WNBA game, 37-year-old Cynthia Cooper hit a 3-pointer to force overtime and then made two clutch shots in the extra session to lift the Comets to their fourth straight title with a thrilling 79-73 victory against the Liberty yesterday afternoon at the Compaq Center.
In lifting the Comets to a two-game sweep in this best-of-three final, Cooper was named Championship MVP for the fourth straight year after finishing with 25 points.
“You couldn’t ask for a better way to go out than on top,” Cooper said. “This is it.”
Despite disappointment from teammates and fans, the fourth-year Comet has announced that she will retire.
Now, perhaps, the Liberty will have a chance next season.
Because for the second straight year, and third time in four seasons, the Liberty have lost the championship in this sauna-like city.
But Cooper was hardly their only problem yesterday. League MVP Sheryl Swoopes scorched the Liberty for a game-high 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting.
“They’re very hard to stop,” Liberty forward Sue Wicks understated.
Nevertheless, like last season, the Liberty seemed on their way to taking the Comets to a third and deciding game. After center Tari Phillips scored on a layup, the Liberty led 64-61 with 32 seconds remaining.
“We were one play away,” guard Becky Hammon said.
Except that that play turned out to be a 22-foot ceiling-scraping 3-pointer by Cooper that tied the game at 64-64 with 21.5 seconds left.
The Liberty still had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but Wicks missed a layup in traffic with about three seconds left.
In overtime, Phillips, the Liberty’s 6-foot-3 star center, fouled out with 3:57 to play. And for a while, her team hung on, even taking a 70-69 lead on a surprise 3-pointer by Wicks with 2:14 left.
From there, the Comets answered with two free throws by Swoopes and a running jumper by Cooper to take a 73-70 lead with 53.9 seconds to go. Tina Thompson’s two free throws iced the game with 27.6 left.
“We should have had the game in regulation time,” said the teary-eyed Phillips, who scored 17 of her team-high 20 points after the first half. “I truly believe we were headed for a Game 3.”
Phillips also believed that the officiating heavily favored the Comets. The Liberty had 24 fouls (some on purpose toward the end of overtime) compared to 19 for the Comets.
“We’re fighting out there and there’s ticky-tack calls,” she complained.
Likewise, Liberty coach Richie Adubato was incensed on numerous occasions during the game. He received an ill-time technical foul with 5:18 left for walking on the court to argue a call. Cooper hit the technical free throw to give the Comets a 51-49 lead.
The blistering crowd noise seemed to rattle the Liberty in the first half as they fell behind 12-2, with Swoopes doing most of the damage. The league MVP and upcoming Olympian scored eight of those points, en route to a team-high 11-point output by intermission.
But facing this situation before, the Liberty showed their poise by methodically battling back. Using a 19-6 run, the Eastern Conference champs took a 21-18 lead with 5:48 remaining, but trailed by 27-25 at the half.
