Starzz 83, Lynx 74
When Dalma Ivanyi got to the Utah Starzz locker room Thursday afternoon to begin her pregame preparations for the club's Y2K home opener, she cast half a glance at the whiteboard on which the night's matchups were written. "I was kind of surprised. My name was on it," she said.She was slated as the starting point guard.
"It was a special thing for me," said the Hungarian who was just one game removed from her rookie WNBA season. In 1999, Ivanyi started one time because a number of Starzz players missed the team bus in Sacramento and were punished by being benched for the first few minutes.
Ivanyi contributed nicely in her first real start. In fact, all 10 of the Starzz who played contributed nicely at times as Utah beat the Minnesota Lynx 83-74.
"She played a lot of minutes (23) tonight, and she distributed the basketball very well handling a lot of pressure against real active guards," said Starzz coach Fred Williams. Ivanyi injected wild energy into the game but still "set us in our offenses. It's in her blood," added Williams. "She's starting to get into the flow, and I love it. We improved our team tonight."
"Wow," said Starzz veteran forward Adrienne Goodson about Ivanyi. "She played the game I always knew she could. She was a leader. There was no fear in her eyes."
Williams started Ivanyi so Korie Hlede could return to her natural shooting-guard spot, and it paid off as Hlede scored 12 points, while LaTonya Johnson scored 14 off the bench and rookie Stacy Frese played 17 minutes at back-up point. Frese made some big contributions in the final two minutes to help Utah salt the game away.
Hlede was "relieved" to be back at the two and happy Ivanyi and Frese did well. "It's all about the team coming together," she said. "I've tried really hard, but it's not my thing," Hlede said of the point.
She inherited the job when Jennifer Azzi broke a bone in her hand May 14, and in exhibition games and Wednesday's season-opener at Los Angeles, Hlede played a little at both guards. "It's hard adjusting," she said.
Natalie Williams had her second straight double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Goodson managed four points in the last 30 seconds for her 28th straight double-figure scoring game. Williams has 25 straight double-figure games.
Margo Dydek had no points or rebounds but seven blocked shots, six in the first half. Her fifth block of the night gave her a WNBA-record 200 for her career. Backup center Naomi Mulitauaopele hit 10 points including back-to-back buckets that gave Utah a 64-63 and 66-65 leads in a game that saw 15 lead changes and 12 ties.
"People just stepped up," said Natalie Williams.
Would the Starzz of the past have won? "Probably not. We really pulled it together down the stretch," she said.
Both teams are now 1-1.
Utah continues a coast-to-coast four-day stint traveling to New York for an 11 a.m. Saturday game against the 1999 Eastern Conference-champion New York Liberty (0-2) in Madison Square Garden.
As had happened in a exhibition game between the two teams earlier in the week, the Lynx hung close until the final two minutes.
A wild scramble went Utah's way, and it was able to go from 66-65 to 69-65 on a Natalie Williams three-point play after Frese alertly kept the ball from going out of bounds. The rookie then coolly popped a 3-pointer to make it 72-65. Frese and Williams then made two free throws each, and in just over a minute, Utah was in control, 76-65.
With 31 seconds left, coach Williams removed Natalie Williams to avoid injury to the franchise player and replaced her with Goodson, who knew she had but nine points. She went hard to rebound a missed Lynx free throw and got fouled. She made both free throws to break into double figures with a huge grin. "I was praying to everything to let me back in there," she said, admitting her eyes doubled in size when she got the opportunity after what she said wasn't a great game for her.
Minnesota got 18 points from Katie Smith, who had 34 on Wednesday against Cleveland, and 11 from Grace Daley off the bench. Kristin Folkl went for 20 points, battling Natalie Williams all night. "Folkl's a great player," said Williams, adding with a laugh. "We're both volleyball players; I felt like I out-jumped her."
E-MAIL: lham@desnews.com