SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 15 (Ticker) - The Sacramento Monarchs
continued their dominance of the Connecticut Sun.
All-Star Yolanda Griffith scored 21 points to lift the Monarchs
to their fourth straight win, an 69-63 victory over the
Sun.
Kara Lawson, Ticha Penicheiro and
Hamchetou Maiga-Ba scored
eight points apiece for Sacramento, which has won three straight
and four of the last five against Connecticut dating to last
season's WNBA Finals.
Despite shooting just 39 percent (26-of-67) from the floor, the
Monarchs improved to 8-0 against Eastern Conference opponents
this season.
A jumper by Kristin Haynie gave Sacramento its biggest lead at
45-38 with 2:59 remaining in the third quarter before the Sun
rallied and took a 52-51 lead on a 3-pointer by Erin Phillips
with 6:43 to play.
A layup by Penicheiro gave the Monarchs the lead for good at
56-54 with 4:28 to go. A jumper by Griffith sealed it at 64-60
with 23 seconds remaining.
Behind 11 points from Griffith, the Monarchs took a 34-32 lead
into halftime. Sun leading scorer Katie Douglas had just four
points and three fouls at the break.
All-Star Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 13 points and added 10
boards for her sixth double-double of the season for the Sun,
who committed a season-high 26 turnovers and had a three-game
winning streak snapped. Douglas finished with 11 points on
4-of-17 shooting.






