StingRays Worn Down by Blizzard, 89-74

HARTFORD, Conn. —  The StingRays got another strong game from Yolanda Griffith on Tuesday night, but not much from anyone else, and an Eastern trip that had a promising 2-0 start fizzled out at 2-2.

The New England Blizzard (5-4) blew Long Beach (5-4) off the court in the third quarter, coasted through the final period and finished with an 89-74 victory before 6,774 in 15,400-seat Hartford Civic Center.

Maura McHugh’s tired team was no match for a Blizzard team that got a huge lift from reserve Carla Berube, the rookie from UConn who sealed the victory in the third quarter.

Long Beach, finishing a four-game-in-six-night tour of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Columbus and Hartford, trailed, 12-2, after only four minutes.

The team missed open shots all night and finished with a season-low 36% from the field. The StingRays also committed 20 turnovers.

Griffith had 20 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, then revealed some frustration with her team.

“It is so frustrating to play hard on defense, get the ball . . . then go down to the other end and throw it away,” she said.

Long Beach got its first look at the league’s most celebrated rookie and much of it was a terrifying sight--the outstretched arms of 6-foot-7 Kara Wolters in the low post.

New England Coach K.C. Jones is bringing her along slowly, maybe too slowly. She played 24 minutes and had 17 points.

Carolyn Jones had 20 for the Blizzard, but Berube brought UConn partisans out of their seats with a brilliant third quarter. In her first action after being out a week with flu, she entered the game in the third quarter and immediately scored on an acrobatic putback.

Then Berube, a six-footer who plays in the low post, made five consecutive free throws and added two putbacks. When she finished, New England had a 63-43 lead after three quarters. In 14 minutes, she scored 13 points.

Long Beach made it easy for the victors by not making a field goal for the first 6 1/2 minutes of the period.

“We’re tired,” McHugh said afterward, then showed she hasn’t lost her sense of humor.

“We were horrible in practice Monday, horrible in the shootaround today and horrible tonight. We’re getting open shots and we can’t make them--a blind lady sitting behind us offered to go in and help, but we didn’t have an open roster spot.”

ABL Notes

New England General Manager Pam Batalis, on Blizzard Coach K.C. Jones’ 12 NBA championships as a player and coach and two NCAA titles: “He’s the only guy I know with more rings than fingers.” The StingRays play at Seattle on Saturday, then return for a three-game homestand at the Pyramid. . . . Reserve Long Beach guard Nicky McCrimmon is coming home on crutches--she sprained an ankle in the third quarter. . . . The teams shot 74 free throws, New England making 35 of 41. . . . Vicki Hall scored 17 points and the road-happy Colorado Xplosion beat Atlanta, 75-71, before 1,482 at Atlanta, handing the Glory its fourth consecutive defeat. Colorado’s three victories are all on the road.