By KRISTINA ADAMZ
Although Utah Starzz do not have the best record in the WNBA, they have had some exciting upsets.
Saturday evening, the Starzz beat the Houston Comets, 74-63. The Starzz lost to them the previous time the teams met.
The Starzz were led in scoring and rebounding by center, Elena Baranova. Baranova had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Starzz. The Comets forward, Tina Thompson, had the game high, scoring 20 points.
It was close at the half, 31-30 in the Starzz favor, and they came out strong in the second half.
It was a win involving the whole team.
'Everybody, I think, played their role today. Whatever that role might have been,' said Dena Head, Starzz guard.
Head came in off the bench to score 15 points for the Starzz. Head shot 100 percent from the free-throw line, sinking 8 of 8.
Overall, the shooting by the Starzz was great. The Starzz shot 90 percent from the free-throw line (18 of 20), 50 percent from downtown (6 of 12), and shot 48.1 percent from the field, 30 points in the paint.
'We played well tonight. Our bench certainly did well tonight ... (a) great team effort. We executed the game plan,' said Starzz Head Coach Denise Taylor.
How can a team do so well some games and then look as if they have not played together in others?
It has a lot to do with desire and focus, Taylor said.
'... (That's) part of a young team. We have to learn how to come out focused every night,' Taylor said.
Saturday evening the team definitely was focused.
'Everybody was focused. Everybody stuck together. Everybody was into each other,' Head said.
Greta Koss, a forward, made her first shot of the WNBA. Though this was the third game Koss had participated in since her activation from the developmental roster, it was her first game with significant playing time. Koss said that she tries to do what she knows how to do. Koss said Taylor told them to keep focus, keep intense and to just play fundamental basketball.
The Utah Starzz waived the forward/center Raegan Scott on August 1. This resulted in the activation of Megan Compain from the developmental roster, according to a Starzz memo.
Scott is a resident of Orem and played in 8 games this season for the Starzz, according to a Starzz memo.
Compain signed as a developmental player on June 23, according to a memo. Compain is a guard/forward coming from St. Joseph's.
The Starzz guard/forward, Deborah Carter, is still injured and unable to play. Carter still attends the games and cheers the Starzz on though. Carter was place on the injured list July 26, because of a left knee injury.
The Starzz will play again on Wednesday at Phoenix and also Saturday at Sacramento. The Sacramento game will begin at 7 p.m. and be broadcast on Lifetime.