HOUSTON — If the Utah Starzz are ever going to catch the four-time defending WNBA champion Houston Comets with their tails down, Tuesday night just might be the time to do it.
The 9-11 Starzz have been off since Saturday afternoon's disappointing loss at Phoenix, and while waiting three days on the road to play again can lead to some staleness, it's probably preferable to the 15-6 Comets' schedule.
Houston ended a six-game road swing with a 3-3 mark after a 51-46 win at Minnesota Monday night and then had to travel home to meet the Starzz at 6:30 p.m. MDT in Compaq Center. The Lynx went down to the last three minutes with Houston, which got 24 points and 10 rebounds from Tina Thompson and 13 points from Janeth Arcain, who played 38 and 35 minutes, respectively.
With their schedule, the Comets have probably had little time to contemplate playing Utah under new coach Candi Harvey, who is 4-3 since taking over when Fred Williams resigned on July 6.
Utah's had a couple of days to think about Houston and think about how it let a 12-point lead at Phoenix get away. In spite of the setback, the Starzz are still just half a game behind Portland, which holds fourth place in the Western Conference — the last playoff-qualifying spot.
But the Starzz are 1-15 all-time against Houston with the one win coming in the third meeting in the league's inaugural season, 1997; they're 0-12 since despite a couple of overtime games and a double-overtime loss.
Korie Hlede, who missed the Phoenix game with illness, practiced Monday and is expected to be able to play after being treated during that game for dehydration. Natalie Williams's ankle with the "slight break" in the tibia swelled up following the game, but she also practiced Monday and is considered "probable."
Williams for the second game in a row must test that tender ankle while playing against one of the league's stronger power forwards in Thompson, second in the league in scoring at 22.3 and sixth in rebounds at 8.1. Saturday, she played the Mercury's tough Jennifer Gillom.
Following Tuesday's game, the end of a three-game road trip for the Starzz, they will return to Utah and host the New York Liberty Thursday and Minnesota Saturday in the Delta Center.
NOTZZ: Third-round draft choice Shea Ralph of University of Connecticut, who has been on the injured list all season because she tore her left anterior cruciate ligament in early March, tore the same ligament Monday while doing agility work at UConn. She was to fly to Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday for the fourth ACL surgery of her career.