With only three weeks remaining in the regular season, things are really starting to heat up and the battles for playoff positions are starting to get intense. In this week's Power Rankings, the Sacramento Monarchs move up a couple spots to replace the Detroit Shock at No. 2, and the Shock and Sun continue to switch places as the top Eastern Conference team.
| 2006 WNBA.com POWER RANKINGS: Week Nine | |||||
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TEAM (last)
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W/L
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NOTES
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| 1 |
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20-6
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Despite
losing to the Detroit Shock on Friday, 73-59, the Sparks remain No. 1 after
finishing the week 2-1 and winning seven of their last eight overall. Lisa
Leslie averaged 17.7 points and nine rebounds for the week including two
double-doubles against the Liberty and the Shock. Upcoming: at Houston, at San Antonio |
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| 2 |
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16-8 |
The Monarchs are the league's hottest team after winning
eight straight and nine of their last ten. Last week, after beating Seattle
on the road, 74-61, the Monarchs continued to dominate the East as they
defeated the Liberty, 71-62, and the Lynx, 86-59. Sacramento is 10-0 against
Eastern Conference teams this season. |
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| 3 |
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17-6 | The
Sun remain in the No. 3 spot, but move ahead of the Detroit Shock in this
week's Rankings. After finishing the week 2-0, the Sun also remain one game
ahead of the Shock in the standings. On Thursday, Katie Douglas scored 19 points
to lead the Sun past the Sky, 86-72, and two days later Margo Dydek filled
up the box score as she tallied 18 points, eight rebounds, and six blocks
in a 79-61 win over the Silver Stars. Upcoming: at New York, vs. Washington |
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| 4 |
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16-7 | Detroit slips behind
the Sun in the Power Rankings and remain one game out of first place in
the East despite finishing the week 2-1, including a 73-59 win over the
Los Angeles Sparks. The Shock started the week by losing to the Sting at
home, 73-67, and finished the week with a 19-point win over the Sky. Upcoming: vs. Sacramento, at Seattle |
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| 5 |
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15-9 |
The Fever are No. 5 in the Power Rankings for the third
week in a row after splitting their two games last week. Tamika Catchings,
who signed a contract extension last week, led the Fever in scoring in
both games as she finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in a win
over the Mercury on Tuesday and 27 points in a losing effort to the Sparks
on Saturday. |
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| 6 |
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14-11 |
The Houston Comets won only their second game of their
last seven when they defeated the Minnesota Lynx, 78-55, to finish the
week 1-1. Sheryl Swoopes scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the
Comets limited the Lynx rookie All-Star Seimone Augustus to only 15 points
on 6-18 shooting in the win. |
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| 7 |
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13-12 |
The Storm went 2-2 in an eventful week. About an hour
after being sold to an Oklahoma City group, the Storm looked distracted
as they lost to the Sacramento Monarchs, 74-61. Two days later, the Storm
lost to the Charlotte Sting, 86-72. Anne Donovan's team then won two in a row on the
road against the Liberty and the Mystics. Lauren Jackson led the Storm
in both wins while, 18 points and 10 rebounds to finish the
week. Five of Seattle's remaining nine will be played on the road. |
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| 8 |
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12-12 | Alana Beard led the
Mystics in scoring in all three games played last week as the Mystics finished
the week 1-2. After scoring 23 points in a 96-83 loss to the Mercury on
Wednesday and scoring 18 in a 80-77 win over the Silver Stars, Beard scored
a career-high 30 points in a losing effort to the Storm, 73-71 on Sunday. The Mystics
remain in fourth place in the East as they are five games ahead of the fifth
place-Sting and three games behind the third place Fever. Upcoming: at Connecticut, vs. Chicago |
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| 9 |
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11-12 |
Diana Taurasi's impressive scoring numbers are finally paying off
for the Mercury, who are now within one game of the fourth place Seattle
Storm after winning two in a row and seven of their last 12. The Mercury started
the week off cold as Taurasi only scored 7 points in a 71-65 loss to the
Fever, but things quickly turned around as they went on to beat the Mystics
on Wednesday, 96-83, and the Sting on Saturday, 78-74. Upcoming: vs. Seattle, at Houston |
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| 10 |
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10-13 | The Silver Stars returned
home from a 0-3 road trip to post a 67-64 win over the Comets to start the
week, but have lost two in a row since. On Friday, the Silver Stars lost
to the Mystics at home, 80-77, and the following day Sophia Young's 18 points
and 11 rebounds weren't enough to put the Silver Stars past the Sun as they
went on to lose, 79-61. San Antonio has dropped to sixth place in the West,
two games behind the fourth place Storm. Upcoming: vs. Los Angeles, vs. Phoenix |
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| 11 |
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5-16 | The
Sting, who finished the first half of the season with a 3-16 record, are
now 4-1 in the second half after going 2-1 last week. Charlotte began the
week with two impressive wins over the Shock, 73-67, and the Storm, 86-72,
but their season-long winning streak came to an end as they lost to the
Mercury, 78-74, to end the week. The Sting are five games out of the final
playoff position in the East. Upcoming: vs. Minnesota, at Minnesota |
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| 12 |
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8-15 | Assistant coach Carolyn Jenkins took over as interim head coach after head coach Suzie McConnell
Serio resigned on Sunday after the Lynx finished the week with a 1-2 record.
After defeating the Sky, 90-82, the Lynx went on to lose to the Comets and
Monarchs by an average of 25 points. Upcoming: at Charlotte, vs. Charlotte |
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| 13 |
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3-20 | The
Sky's losing streak has extended to six after losing three straight on the
road. The Sky have not won a road game since their first game of the season
and now hold a 1-11 road record. Upcoming: vs. New York, at Washington |
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| 14 |
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4-19 | The Liberty remain
in last place this week, but things may change if they can beat the Sky
on Tuesday. As for now, the Libs finished the week without a win, going 0-3, including a 37 point
loss to the Seattle Storm on Saturday. The Liberty have now lost 10 in a
row. Upcoming: vs. Connecticut, at Chicago |
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