Houston Comets' Cynthia Cooper, right, is fouled by Phoenix Mercury's Michelle Timms, center, as the Mercury's Michelle Griffiths (12) watches during overtime in Game 2 of the WNBA Championship series Saturday, Aug. 29, 1998, in Houston. The Comets beat the Mercury 74-69 in overtime to even the series at 1-1. Game 3 will be Tuesday in Houston. ASSOCIATED PRESS

WNBA Finals headed for sudden-death

Web posted Aug. 30 at 11:55 PM

By Mark Babineck
Associated Press

HOUSTON -- Having survived a near-collapse to reach Tuesday's decisive Game 3 against the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals, the Houston Comets relish the fact that both teams' seasons are now on the line.

The Comets remain alive in the best-of-3 series because they came back up from a 12-point deficit with seven minutes left Saturday, sent the game to overtime and won 74-69. Phoenix had won the first game on its home court and was gunning for a sweep.

With the finals even at 1-1 and two full days to mend various bumps and bruises, the Comets say they're primed to defend the inaugural WNBA title.

``I think we'll be relaxed Tuesday,'' coach Van Chancellor said. ``Going into (Saturday's) game, I thought the pressure was all on us.''

Two-time league MVP Cynthia Cooper, who led the late charge and finished with 27 points despite frenzied double- and triple-team defenses, complimented her mates on the winning effort.

``When we came together as a team, we put team first before anything else,'' said Cooper, who berated several unnamed teammates for individual play earlier this month. ``We came together. We won this game because we came together.''

For their part, the Mercury haven't run up the white flag even though another hostile sellout crowd awaits them for the finale. Coach Cheryl Miller doesn't anticipate having to make many motivational speeches.

``There's no reason to try to keep this team up. It's the last game of the season, so I think that's enough motivation in itself,'' she said.

Miller said she fully expected Houston to make a run despite falling behind by 12 late in the second half.

``Did you not expect Houston to get back in this game?'' she said. ``Come on, they're champions.''

A key to Houston's success was the failure of Mercury star center Jennifer Gillom. She finished with just eight points on 3-for-15 shooting, leaving the scoring burden to Michele Timms, who had 21 before fouling out.

``I think what we started to do was try to protect the lead instead of play basketball,'' Timms said.

Miller refused to characterize the Mercury's late collapse as disheartening. Cooper said she doesn't care how Phoenix reacts in Game 3.

``That's their problem,'' Cooper said. ``We're trying to keep on a high note and continue to play well.''