Houston ? Sheryl Swoopes scored 20 points and Tynesha Lewis added a career-high 12 as the Houston Comets beat Phoenix 61-56 Wednesday night in the Mercury’s WNBA season-opener.

Swoopes was 8-for-16 from the field, while the Comets shot just 38 percent.

“Our shots are not falling right now. My shot is not falling right now, but I think we’re close to getting to where we want to be,” said Swoopes, who missed all of last season with a knee injury.

Swoopes led the Comets with five steals, including two in the final two minutes.

“My shots might be off right now, but I know that if I get my defense going, the shots are going to start falling,” she said.

Lewis hit two three-pointers down the stretch for the Comets, who avoided losing two games to start a season for the first time in franchise’s six-year history.

“My teammates did a great job of finding me when I was open,” Lewis said. “They were getting double-teamed and they left me open. All I had to do was catch the ball and knock it down.”

Gordana Grubin scored all of her 17 points in the second half for Phoenix, while Jennifer Gillom added 12 and Lisa Harrison had 10.

The Mercury pulled within 55-54 with 2:25 remaining, but Houston made six straight free throws to seal the victory.

Phoenix committed 11 turnovers in the first half as the Comets took a 28-20 lead behind 10 points from Swoopes. Houston went on an 18-7 run over 71/2 minutes to take 28-17 lead.

Liberty 84, Fire 62

Portland, Ore. Becky Hammon scored 22 points and Tari Phillips had 20 as New York beat mistake-prone Portland. Teresa Weatherspoon added 11 assists for New York (1-1), which fell behind 33-32 early in the second half but used a a 20-5 run to put the game away. Jackie Stiles had 11 points for the Fire, who committed 24 turnovers in their season opener.