In some of last night's less exhausting games:

1. The Shock evened up their season series against the Sun by clobbering them at the Palace. Connecticut shot just 33%. "We were so bad offensively in the first quarter," said coach Thibault, "that we dug a pretty big hole."

The result puts the Shock in a tie for first in the East. It wasn't a perfect night for Detroit, though: Plenette Pierson may have hurt her knee.

2. You might not expect the struggling Comets to beat San Antonio without Tina Thompson, (broken ring finger), but that's what they did in Houston. Sancho Lyttle, in her first start this year, had a new career high. "She went in there and went to work," said teammate Michelle Snow.

3. Chicagoland natives Tan Smith and Cappie Pondexter led the Merc past Chicago in Chicago. The visitors shot 45% from the floor, but just 2-17 from long range, which means that a Sky team without Sylvia Fowles is a team that allows way too many layups: some fans seem near despair.

Phoenix, on the other hand, is a team that will let you miss shots and then get the ball back: the Sky had 20 offensive boards before halftime. ''I felt like they had 105," Diana said. "But you know what, we're used to getting people world records. As long as we get the 'W,' we don't mind.''

4. Last night's other overtime game brought its most surprising result: the Mystics scored 7 points in 33 seconds-- the last 33 seconds-- of regulation, then won a low-scoring overtime to defeat the Sparks.

It was the Mystics' first victory this year against a team with a winning record, and it looks as if overconfidence played a role: "We apologize to you all for the lackluster effort," LLL told L.A fans afterwards. "We're going to correct this and, next game, you're going to see a different Sparks team."