AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Cheryl Ford pulled down a postseason-record 23 rebounds and scored 11 points Thursday night as the Detroit Shock beat the Connecticut Sun 70-59 in Game 1 of the WNBA Eastern Conference final.
Connecticut, outscored 22-10 in the fourth quarter, needs to win the final two games at home to advance to its third straight WNBA Finals.
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.
Deanna Nolan led all scorers with 21 points, while Katie Smith added 17 and Plenette Pierson had 11 off the bench.
MONARCHS 64, SPARKS 61: At Sacramento, Calif., Yolanda Griffith scored 18 points and hit the go-ahead layup with 10.3 seconds left in the Monarchs' 64-61 comeback victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Nicole Powell scored 17 points and Kara Lawson hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 48 seconds left for the defending league champion Monarchs, who rallied from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter. Mwadi Mabika led the Sparks with 23 points. Lisa Leslie had 11 rebounds but just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting.