Fever Loses Third Straight

STAR OF THE GAME Katie Douglas Douglas made three 3-pointers on her way to 23 points, three rebounds and two steals during the loss. UNSUNG HERO Ebony Hoffman Hoffman grabbed eight rebounds for the Fever while adding seven points and two blocked shots. QUOTABLE Lin Dunn In General: "I thought we started a little soft but we got aggressive in the second half and made a run. We missed some shots even though I thought we battled them. There were times when we needed some key buckets, and we didn't get it done." Tamika Catchings In General: "We missed a lot of open shots and took some bad shots. We got it back together and made a good run but couldn't keep them off the boards and get enough stops down the stretch." HIDDEN NUMBERS Points in the paint: Fever 24, Monarchs 32 Second-chance points: Fever 12, Monarchs 16 Fast-break points: Fever 2, Monarchs 11 Points off turnovers: Fever 22, Monarchs 17 Starters scoring: Fever 50, Monarchs 49 Bench scoring: Fever 12, Monarchs 21

GAME REPORT
	Monarchs 70, Fever 62
July 26, 2008 at ARCO Arena (Sacramento, Calif.) Box Score | WNBA Recap

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Rebekkah Brunson had 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Sacramento Monarchs beat the Indiana Fever 70-62 Saturday night to match a franchise record with seven straight victories.

The Monarchs go after the record Sunday in Seattle, where they play their final game before the Olympic break. Sacramento also won seven straight games in July of the 2006 season.

Kara Lawson scored 12 points for the Monarchs, who have won five straight at Arco Arena and are 10-4 at home. Both Nicole Powell and rookie Laura Harper scored 11 points.

Katie Douglas made three 3-pointers and scored 23 points for the Fever, which has lost three in a row and five of six overall. Tamika Catchings had eight points.

Despite an unproductive second half offensively, and scoring only 11 points in the final period, the Monarchs quieted the Fever in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Struggling Indiana had 21 turnovers in falling to 3-9 on the road.

It's been a productive last two weeks for the Monarchs, who have moved from last place in the Western Conference to third behind Seattle and first-place San Antonio. The Monarchs final eight games are all against Western Conference teams.

Sacramento played without Scholanda Robinson and Chelsea Newton, two key reserve guards who are nursing injuries. The victory avenged an earlier loss to Indiana when the Monarchs squandered an 18-point lead.

The Fever plays Sunday at Phoenix in their final game before having nearly a month off.

After Lawson's 3-pointer gave the Monarchs their biggest lead at 17 points early in the third quarter, the Fever responded with a 16-3 run, cutting the margin to 48-44. Indiana trailed 59-50 heading into the fourth.

Brunson and reserve forward Harper each had 10 first-half points for the Monarchs, who built a 40-26 lead by intermission. Harper made all five shots in the second quarter in helping the Monarchs to an 18-10 advantage.

Douglas scored eight points in the opening half, but it was a frustrating first two quarters for Catchings, who missed all five shots and was scoreless, and sat much of the second quarter with three fouls.

The Fever had no solution for Brunson in the first quarter. She repeatedly hurt Indiana inside, scoring 10 points and getting six rebounds to help Sacramento assume a 22-16 lead.