Monarchs Edge Sparks; Shock Top Sun

Friday, August 25th 2006, 8:53 am

By: News On 6

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ Although the Sacramento Monarchs' first-round grace was gone, they still had the grit and grind they needed to stay with their biggest rivals. And then Kara Lawson and Nicole Powell provided just enough graceful moments against the Los Angeles Sparks to put the Monarchs on the verge of a return trip to the WNBA finals.

Yolanda Griffith scored 18 points and hit the go-ahead layup with 10.3 seconds left in the Monarchs' 64-61 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.

Powell scored eight of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, and Lawson hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 48 seconds left for the defending league champion Monarchs, who rallied from a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter.

Although the Monarchs haven't lost a home playoff game in five years, the Sparks never allow this rivalry to get comfortable. Los Angeles was the better team for most of the first three quarters while Sacramento struggled.

``There were a lot of things that we could have hung our heads about,'' Lawson said. ``There were times that they really dominated us. They made a run where they got up nine. There were a lot of reasons for us not to come back and win. We got in there, and we grinded it out.''

Indeed, it wasn't pretty for either of these longtime rivals. Sacramento got just three points from its vaunted bench, and the Sparks _ who couldn't score in the first 5:55 _ fell apart offensively when they were perhaps two good fourth-quarter possessions away from a win.

But the Monarchs kept it together, and now Sacramento has two chances at one victory in Southern California.

``I really thought my team showed determination, character, courage, whatever you want to call it,'' Monarchs coach John Whisenant said. ``We needed this one badly.''

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Detroit beat Connecticut 70-59.

Sacramento has won 10 straight playoff games at Arco Arena dating to 2001.

Mwadi Mabika nearly carried the Sparks to victory with 23 points, including 20 in the second half of her latest outstanding game against Sacramento. Lisa Leslie had 11 rebounds but just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting for Los Angeles, which led throughout the second half until Powell hit her third 3-pointer with 4:17 left to tie it at 51.

Temeka Johnson, who scored 14 points, made two tough layups for the Sparks, but Sacramento tied it again on Ticha Penicheiro's 3-pointer. The Monarchs went ahead on a 3-pointer by Lawson, who scored 13 points on a poor shooting night.

Mabika tied it at 61 on a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left, but the Monarchs ran down the clock until Griffith scored over two defenders on a pass from Lawson. Johnson missed a tough layup on the other end, and Lawson hit one free throw with 3.1 seconds left.

Lisa Willis missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Monarchs hit the road for Game 2 on Saturday night _ which will be played in Anaheim while an American Idol-related concert takes over Staples Center.

``Sacramento did what it was supposed to do, and now we have a chance to go home and hopefully make our shots this time,'' Leslie said. ``We learned from the first(-round) series against Seattle that it can be done. It just takes composure.''

If necessary, Game 3 will be Sunday at Staples Center _ and the Sparks must replicate their two first-round home victories over Seattle to get to the WNBA finals.

``We're in Sacramento, (and) this is the toughest place to win,'' Sparks coach Joe Bryant said. ``This is a jungle in here. They're the defending champs. That's why we fought all year for homecourt advantage, so we wouldn't have to play here twice.''

Chamique Holdsclaw sat out with a foot injury, leaving the Sparks without their second-leading scorer essentially for the third straight game. Holdsclaw played 2 minutes in Game 2 of Los Angeles' first-round series with Seattle, then sat out Game 3.

But the Sparks got a remarkable game from Mabika, who has played for Los Angeles in every season of the WNBA's existence. She made a series of difficult outside shots in the second half, seemingly getting points whenever the Monarchs got close.

The teams are meeting in their fourth straight postseason, with the Monarchs eliminating Los Angeles in the first round in 2004 and 2005.

Shock 70, Sun 59

At Auburn Hills, Mich., Cheryl Ford pulled down a postseason-record 23 rebounds and scored 11 points for Detroit.

``That's just a Herculean effort,'' Shock coach Bill Laimbeer said. ``She's been very driven and focused all year, and it has been a joy to watch.''

Connecticut, outscored 22-10 in the fourth quarter, needs to win the final two games at home to advance to their third straight WNBA finals. Detroit is trying to get back to the championship round for the first time since winning the 2002 title.

``Obviously, we have our work cut out for us,'' Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said.

Ford broke Lisa Leslie's postseason rebounding record of 18 late in the third quarter, then broke her own overall franchise record of 22 in the fourth. The league record for rebounds in a game is 24 by Chamique Holdsclaw.

``It just seemed like the ball was falling right into my hands,'' said Ford, the daughter of NBA Hall of Famer Karl Malone. ``I was just trying to get to everything I could.''

Deanna Nolan led all scorers with 21 points, while Katie Smith added 17 and Plenette Pierson had 11 off the bench.

Connecticut, which was missing leading scorer Katie Douglas to a foot injury, got 13 points each from Lindsay Whalen and Erin Phillips.