HOUSTON, August 10 (AP) -- Tina Thompson scored 25 points, Tamecka Dixon had 19 and the Houston Comets preserved their slim playoff chances with an 83-75 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs on Friday night.

Sancho Lyttle had 14 points and nine rebounds and Michelle Snow had a game-high 11 rebounds for Houston (11-19), which needs to win each of its last four games and have Seattle lost its final three to avoid missing the postseason for just the second time in the league's 11-year history.

Kara Lawson scored 14 points and Rebekkah Brunson and Nicole Powell added 13 each for Sacramento (17-13). The Monarchs fell to 7-9 on the road and lost center Yolanda Griffith to a twisted right knee in the fourth quarter.

Dixon's 14-foot jumper gave the Comets a 52-45 lead with 4:25 left in the third quater. However, the Monarchs rallied with a 7-2 run to pull to 54-52 with 2:01 left in the period.

Griffith scored the first basket of the fourth to pull the Monarchs to 58-57, but Thompson answered with a 3-pointer exactly one minute later. That started a 14-5 run for the Comets, who extended their lead to 72-62 on Thompson's free throws with 5:22 left in the game.

The Monarchs had their biggest lead about 6 1/2 minutes into the game as Lawson hit two free throws to extend the advantage to 12-6.

However, the Comets limited the Monarchs to juts 14 points in the second quarter after starting the period with a 13-5 run.

Snow made it 27-23 after making a pair of free throws, and Lyttle hit two in the final 30 seconds of the half to push Houston's lead to 41-36 at the break.