NEW YORK, June 6 (AP) -- Leilani Mitchell even surprised herself in her first career start.

The Liberty rookie scored 18 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the field and had seven assists to lead New York to an 81-73 victory over the struggling Houston Comets on Friday night.

"I didn't know I didn't miss a shot. That's a good thing I guess,'' Mitchell said after getting the start in place of the injured Loree Moore (back spasms). "I'm just glad I was able to contribute and knock down open shots because they definitely left me open. In order to get other people open you have to make your shots and keep the defense guessing.''

Shameka Christon led the Liberty (3-3) with 19 points, Cathrine Kraayeveld had 12 and Janel McCarville added 10. New York shot season bests of 52 percent from the field and 57 percent (12-for-21) on 3-pointers en route to its second straight win and third in a row at home.

"When we execute we get really good looks,'' Liberty coach Pat Coyle said. "I think the team is beginning to understand what to look for.''

Mitchell, who made three 3s and had just two turnovers in 30 minutes, was acquired from Phoenix in the preseason after the defending champion Mercury selected the former Utah star in the second round, 25th overall, in the WNBA draft in April.

"She made incredible decisions,'' Coyle said. "The scoring was great, but seven assists and two turnovers were key. She is a true point guard who can also shoot it.''

Tina Thompson had 28 points and 10 rebounds, and Michelle Snow added 13 points for Houston (1-6), which had a lead twice in the second half after trailing by 17 in the first quarter.

"With any team in the WNBA, you can't spot 17 points in the beginning of the game,'' Thompson said. "Anytime you're digging yourself out of a hole that deep, you are going to spend a lot of energy trying to get out of it. And then the fourth quarter becomes a little bit tougher.

Former Rutgers teammates Matee Ajavon and Essence Carson faced each other in the pros for the first time. Ajavon was selected fifth overall by the Comets in April's WNBA draft, and the Liberty took Carson two picks later. Carson finished with seven points and Ajavon had six.

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer attended the game and was pleased with both her former players' play.

"It was nice to see those two playing against each other,'' she said. "They compete all the time and when you have that kind of competition, and against each other, what can you say?''.

Houston scored nine straight points - the last five by rookie Erica White - to take a 61-57 lead with 7:24 left in the fourth quarter.

But Erin Thorn hit a 3, McCarville hit a short jumper and Kraayeveld had a 3 to give New York a four-point lead with 5:35 left. Christon hit a 3 a little more than 2 minutes later to push the lead to eight, and then another with 1:12 left to stretch the advantage to 10.

The Liberty got off to a fast start for the second straight game, using a 12-0 run to take a 23-6 lead with just under 3 minutes to go in the first quarter. And for the second straight game, New York squandered a big early lead and trailed in the second half.

"That's sometehing we can't continue to do,'' said Christon, who scored eight points in the last 3 1/2 minutes. "You can't expect them to keep letting us kill them like that and them not come back. The most important thing is we kept our composure and we kept fighting back, we didn't fold or anything like that. We kept playing hard.''

After Christon's 3 gave the Liberty a 34-22 lead with 7:10 to go in the first half, Houston scored the next nine points to pull within three on Mwadi Mabika's 3 with 1:23 left. McCarville had a layup 20 seconds later to end New York's scoreless drought at 6:07.