Thompson leads Comets to first win of season

HOUSTON (AP)—Tina Thompson had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Houston Comets to their first win of the season, 75-72 win over the San Antonio Silver Stars on Tuesday night.

Rookie guard Matee Ajavon added 15 points, included six in the closing minutes that helped Houston put to rest any talk of repeating last season’s franchise-worst 0-10 start.

The Comets (1-5) lost their previous four games by a combined 17 points, but improved to 14-6 all-time against the Silver Stars franchise that used to play its games in Utah as the Starzz.

Michelle Snow and Tamecka Dixon added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Comets, who improved to 1-1 at home.

Becky Hammon led San Antonio (2-3) with 20 points and Sophia Young, who tweaked her knee in the game, added 15 on 4-of-12 shooting.

The Comets trailed 64-62 with 6:09 to go before Thompson ignited a 10-2 run that gave Houston a 72-66 lead with 3:41 to go.

Erin Buescher added 10 points and five rebounds for the Silver Stars before fouling out with less than three minutes remaining.

San Antonio, which committed 16 turnovers, fell to 0-3 on the road this season and has lost three of its last four games against the Comets.

The Silver Stars led 33-25 with 3:52 left in the second quarter after Edwige Lawson-Wade made the second of back-to-back 3-pointers. But the Comets rallied with a 17-2 run to close out the half and took a 39-35 lead to the locker room.

Thompson scored seven points during the rally for the Comets, who held the Silver Stars without a field goal after Lawson-Wade’s 3-pointers.

Houston started the third quarter with a 8-2 run to take a 47-37 lead before Buescher hit another San Antonio 3-pointer after the team called their first timeout of the half.

That ignited a 14-4 run that tied the game when Hammon hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game with 3:33 left in the third.