East 103, West 99

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Eastern Conference finally has some WNBA bragging rights. <br/><br/>After six straight losses in the All-Star game, the East now boasts its first winning streak. <br/><br/>Katie Douglas

Sunday, July 15th 2007, 5:17 pm

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Eastern Conference finally has some WNBA bragging rights.

After six straight losses in the All-Star game, the East now boasts its first winning streak.

Katie Douglas scored 18 points and Cheryl Ford had 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead the East to its second straight victory, 103-99 over the West on Sunday.

Tamika Catchings had 15 points and 11 rebounds, DeLisha Milton-Jones and Deanna Nolan scored 11 points apiece and Asjha Jones had 10 to help the East hold on after nearly squandering a 12-point lead in the final 2 minutes.

Tina Thompson scored 19 points, Lauren Jackson had 14, and Diana Taurasi and Becky Hammon 13 each for the West, which won the first six midseason games before losing last year in New York.

Ford shot 5-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-7 on free throws to earn the game's MVP honors.

Candice Dupree's layup capped a 9-2 run for the East that gave it an 89-75 lead, its biggest of the game with 6:02 left. Thompson had a 3-pointer, and Taj McWilliams-Franklin had a fastbreak layup to pull the West within nine 24 seconds later.

Douglas hit two 3s in 72 seconds to push the East's lead to 99-87 with 2:26 left.

The West then closed with a 12-4 run. Seimone Augustus hit a basket and Thompson and Hammon hit 3s to pull within three with 47 seconds to go.

Anna DeForge made a jumper with 39 seconds to go to push the lead back to five. Hammon made one free throw 6 seconds later to close the scoring.