Miami ? Sheri Sam scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half as the Miami Sol beat the Cleveland Rockers 74-65 on Tuesday night.

Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough, playing against her former team, added 15 points and Debbie Black a 5-foot-3 point guard had 14 points and nine rebounds to help Miami (1-5) beat Cleveland for the first time in five meetings.

“We needed a win and it feels even better that it was against them,” said Kimbrough, who was a Cleveland reserve the last two seasons. “Now that we know what a win feels like, hopefully we can go on a roll.”

Kimbrough, starting in place of injured center Ruth Riley, had nine of her 15 points in the second half.

“P.J. was on a mission,” Cleveland coach Dan Hughes said. “I wish I could say the same for my team.”

Merlakia Jones had 20 points for Cleveland (1-3), which had nine second-half turnovers that led to 18 Miami points.

“The bottom line is we got outworked tonight,” Jones said. “Miami came out and played well. Our effort was not there in the second half.”

The Sol outscored Cleveland 15-2 over a 3:43 stretch in the second half to take control, building a 54-42 lead with 11:46 remaining. Sam had seven points and two assists during that run.

“It was good that we held on,” said Sam, who has 41 points in her last two games. “We didn’t make the mental errors we usually make down the stretch.”

Liberty 71, Starzz 68

Salt Lake City Tari Phillips scored 22 points and Crystal Robinson added 17 as New York rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Utah. Teresa Weatherspoon put the Liberty (6-2) ahead for good at 69-68 with an uncontested layup with 20.9 seconds remaining.

Lynx 72, Monarchs 63

Minneapolis Katie Smith scored 22 points and Svetlana Abrosimova added 20.

Fever 75, Miracle 69

Orlando, Fla. Nikki McCray and Tamika Catchings each scored 20 points in Indiana’s victory over Orlando. The Fever (4-2) went 19-for-22 from the free-throw line.

Comets 78, Sting 66

Houston Sheryl Swoopes scored 25 points and Grace Daley added a career-high 19 as Houston beat Charlotte. Swoopes had 22 points in the second half as the Comets (5-2) used a 15-2 run early in the half to pull away.

Fire 70, Storm 63

Seattle Ukari Figgs scored a season-high 16 points and Sylvia Crawley had 15.

Sparks 90, Shock 80

Los Angeles Lisa Leslie and DeLisha Milton scored 18 points apiece to lead Los Angeles. Tamecka Dixon added 14 points for the Sparks (6-1).