Mahorn, 10 WNBA players handed suspensions
7/25/2008The WNBA punished so many players for their roles in this week's skirmish that the league is staggering the suspensions by alphabetical order.
"None of us can recall an incident like this," WNBA president Donna Orender said yesterday.
The league suspended Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn and 10 players following the dustup Tuesday between the Shock and the visiting Los Angeles Sparks.
Shock forward Plenette Pierson was suspended for four games, the harshest penalty, for initiating and escalating the altercation.
Mahorn was suspended for two games, as were Shannon Bobbitt and Murriel Page of the Sparks.
Players suspended for one game included Detroit's Kara Braxton, Tasha Humphrey, Elaine Powell and Sheri Sam, along with Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and DeLisha Milton-Jones.
•HOUSTON- Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman showed she still had one nifty pass left in her. The 50-year-old had two assists, including a no-look pass in the closing minutes of the Shock's 79-61 loss to the Houston Comets last night
Lieberman made a one-time appearance for the Shock following yesterday's multiple suspensions by the league.
"I had a great time," said Lieberman, who missed her only shot, a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. "It was very historic to be able to do that."
Lieberman played at Old Dominion from 1976-80 and led the school to two national titles. She played for the U.S. Olympic team in 1976 and 1980, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.
She became the oldest player in WNBA history at 39 while playing for the Phoenix Mercury in 1997, the league's inaugural season.
Lieberman was the general manager and coach of the Shock from 1998-2000.
OAKVILLE, Ont. - Mike Weir gave Canadian Open fans what they came to see on another rainy day at drenched Glen Abbey.
The Canadian icon shot a bogey-free 6-under 65 for a share of the lead with Anthony Kim and Eric Axley during the suspended first round. Only half of the players were able to finish the round that was delayed for 5 hours, 42 minutes.
Richard Johnson, J.P. Hayes, Nicholas Thompson, Ryan
Armour and Jason Allred shot 67s on the course saturated by eight inches of rain in six days.
•EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France - Lorena Ochoa shot a 7-under par 65 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Evian Masters.
Ochoa started with a birdie on the first hole and added six more on the back nine in a bogey-free round. Ahn Sun-ju, Candie Kung and Angela Park trailed by one stroke.
•TROON, Scotland - Four days after nearly making history at the British Open, Greg
Norman labored to a 4-over 75 in the opening round of the Seniors British Open to finish seven shots behind co-leaders Bruce Vaughan and Eduardo Romero.
LAS VEGAS - U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski says injured forward LeBron James is a "95 percent no-go" for tonight's exhibition against Canada.
James has a mild right ankle sprain and was held out of a scrimmage for the second straight day yesterday.
TORONTO - Andy Roddick followed Roger Federer out of the Rogers Cup. The sixth-seeded Roddick was upset by 44th-ranked Marin Cilic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Robin Soderling.
Gilles Simon, who upset the top-ranked Federer, advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jose Acasuso. Eighth-seeded Andy Murray won 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 over ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka.