Sacramento rolled over Houston. The Monarchs dominated the first-half boards, led by double digits at halftime, then played well enough to hold on.

Kara Lawson led the way with an awesome first half: playing the point for the injured Penichiero, Lawson had one of her best-ever shooting nights (Van put Swoopes on her in the second half). Haynie, Lawson's sub at point, hustled and shot well.

Yo Griffith (19 points) had fun with the glass; she, Brunson and DeMya Walker made life miserable for Houston's Michelle Snow (4 points), who didn't look mentally ready for Arco Arena. Snow and DeMya got into a bizarre wrestling match over a late rebound.

Swoopes had 24 points, but took 23 shots: she looked great towards the end, but didn't get enough help.

The Monarchs have been to the conference finals four times but never won the series till last night. Ticha Penichiero: "I don't know how many of these [conference champion] T-shirts we've had to destroy over the years. It feels good to finally put one on."

Penichiero suited up but never took the floor. She says she "probably" would have played in a game three, but she's glad she won't have to: "I can get four more days to rest. No way am I going to miss the Finals. I didn't come this far just to get a T-shirt and a cap. We want some rings."

In some ways Sac's season looks more impressive than Connecticut's: the Sun had the best record (in the better conference), but the Monarchs came close and reached the finals despite losing three starters, two for big chunks of the year. (Instructive comparison: how would Connecticut look if they had to play all June without Katie Douglas, all August without Sales, and Indiana without Whalen?)