Houston ? Tina Thompson scored 22 points, and the Houston Comets avoided their first three-game losing streak in franchise history with a 71-66 win over the Sacramento Monarchs on Tuesday night.

“We knew going in that we had to come out tonight with one of our better efforts of the year,” Thompson said. “There have been a few games this year where we go into a lull at some point during the game and we wanted to avoid that. We knew we wanted to get something going early.”

Michelle Snow added a career-high 17 points for the Comets (4-4), who were playing without the injured Sheryl Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper.

“My goal is to play like this every night,” Snow said. “They have asked me to step up and that is what I want to do.”

The Monarchs (2-5) crept within 67-66 with 55 seconds left in the game, but Janeth Arcain made four straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. She finished with 13 points on 4-for-9 shooting.

Mystics 79, Stars 72

Washington — Coco Miller scored 18 points, and the Washington Mystics blew a 16-point second-half lead before holding on for a win. San Antonio forward Sylvia Crawley sprained her neck in the first half and lay on the court for about 15 minutes before being taken away on a stretcher. Crawley was to stay overnight at George Washington Hospital for further observation.

Liberty 73, Rockers 65

New York — Becky Hammon scored 28 points off the bench to help New York rally past Cleveland.

The Rockers started the second half with a 7-0 run and led 46-38 with 11:44 left, but Hammon and fellow reserves Elena Baranova and Kristen Sharp brought the Liberty back.

Storm 78, Fever 51

Seattle — Lauren Jackson scored 20 points to lead three Seattle players in double figures. The Storm (3-3), used a balanced offense — the key ingredient during the current winning streak, and stiff defense to pull away from the Fever (2-2) midway through the first half.

Sparks 76, Lynx 75

Los Angeles — Lisa Leslie put in her own rebound with less than a second left night to give the Sparks a win. Former Kansas player Tamecka Dixon intercepted Svetlana Abrosimova’s inbound pass to seal the Sparks’ seventh straight win.