July 8, 2008: Scoreboard | Video Play of the Day | Today in the WNBA Archive

PHOTO OF THE DAY Who will be the next WNBA player to dunk? Judging from this picture, Houston Comets 6-5 center Michelle Snow may be a candidate. Snow scored 14 points Tuesday - her seventh straight game in double figures - but Houston lost a tough one at Phoenix. Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images

Shock Try On First Place For Size Detroit outmuscles Connecticut, gains East tiebreaker: The Detroit Shock and Connecticut Sun have been swapping the top spot in the Eastern Conference for most of the season, and Tuesday was no exception. The Sun arrived in the Motor City with a half-game lead but left in a half-game hole following a loss to the Shock, who played the role of schoolyard bully. Connecticut held a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter before Detroit started going inside to frontcourt players Plenette Pierson and Cheryl Ford, who combined for 17 points in the period. All of the power numbers favored the Shock, who held a 35-25 advantage on the boards, an 18-12 margin in free throws and a staggering 50-32 edge in points in the paint. "They got shots around the basket," the Sun's Asjha Jones said. "They made plays that we didn’t." The win gave the Shock the season series and the tiebreaker edge over the Sun, which could come into play given how the teams have jockeyed for the East's top spot. "We still have thoughts in our head about getting beat so badly by Connecticut on their home court," said Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer, whose team remained unbeaten at home. "So we knew that we needed this game so that we could have home court in the playoffs." ALSO MAKING HEADLINES ... Home Cooking Continues for San Antonio: The Silver Stars improved to 10-1 at the AT&T Center with Tuesday's win over the New York Liberty. San Antonio's lone home loss was an 82-81 setback to Houston on June 24. Overall, the Stars have won five in a row for the second time this season and opened a one-game lead over idle Los Angeles atop the Western Conference. San Antonio is 0-3 vs. Houston and 13-3 vs. everyone else. ... In Seattle's easy win at Sacramento, Storm star Lauren Jackson played just 28 minutes and scored 17 points, falling well short of her third straight 30-point game, which would have tied a WNBA record. Jackson scored 33 and 34 points in her last two games, establishing season highs each time. Jackson WHAT THEY'RE SAYING "We are just going to try to put our heads together but try not to overanalyze. I never question their heart or their effort but we took a heartbreaking loss in San Antonio and it just looks like we haven’t fully recovered yet. We didn’t play well tonight. I don’t think you can look at a single stat that we did well in tonight." -- Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek, who held a 25-minute meeting with her team after Tuesday's home loss to Seattle in which Sacramento led for less than a minute. Boucek

WHO'S HOT Plenette Pierson, Shock 23 pts, 9-15 FG, 5-6 FT 88-82 win vs. Sun Becky Hammon, Silver Stars 27 pts, 5-10 FG, 3-5 3-pt FG, 14-15 FT 83-79 win vs. Liberty Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Mystics 20 pts, 9-16 FG, 2-2 FT 50-48 win at Fever

Pierson

WHO'S NOT Tamika Catchings, Fever 1-8 FG, 4 pts 50-48 loss vs. Mystics Tully Bevilaqua, Fever 0-7 FG, 0 pts 50-48 loss vs. Mystics Tamika Whitmore, Sun 2-9 FG, 0-3 3-pt FG, 7 pts 88-82 loss at Shock

Catchings

WHO'S ON TAP Wednesday's Games ... Atlanta at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET (NBA TV) Houston at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m. ET

Augustus

Taurasi

FILLING THE BOX SCORE When Diana Taurasi decides to hang 'em up, she probably will do so as the WNBA's all-time leading scorer. In Phoenix's home win over Houston, the WNBA's leading scorer this season tallied 30 points to eclipse 3,000 for her career. The star swingman of the Phoenix Mercury reached the plateau in 151 games, 11 less than it took Lauren Jackson, who previously was fastest to 3K. However, Taurasi is more than a scorer. She also had team highs of six assists, three steals and three blocks while grabbing five rebounds. To illustrate what a complete player Taurasi is, she is in the top 20 in every league statistical category listed on the bottom of her stats page.

LOCKDOWN OF THE NIGHT After one half at the Verizon Center, the Indiana Fever were smothering the Washington Mystics. The lowest-scoring team in the WNBA, the Mystics were held to a season-low 14 points on 7-of-26 shooting in their own building as the Fever opened a 15-point lead. Washington coach Tree Rollins must have given some halftime speech, because the Mystics completely turned the tables on the Fever in the second half. Washington limited Indiana to 19 points after halftime, including just eight in the pivotal fourth quarter. The Fever made just 8-of-25 shots and committed 12 turnovers in the second half of a 50-48 loss that was the lowest-scoring game in the WNBA this year. Leading the defensive effort for Washington were Nakia Sanford with 11 rebounds and Monique Currie with three blocks, both season highs.

Currie