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  Saturday, Jul. 1 8:00pm ET
Indiana loses seventh straight
 
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INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Sheri Sam made a pair of free throws with 31 seconds remaining to put the Miami Sol ahead for good as they handed the expansion Indiana Fever their seventh straight loss, 54-52.

Sam tied a career high with 22 points, including a layup with 1:42 left that forged a 52-52 tie. Just over a minute later, she was fouled by Stephanie McCarty and converted both free throws to break the deadlock.

Indiana committed two turnovers in the final 10 seconds before Debbie Black sealed the win with a free throw with two-tenths of a second to play.

Sharon Manning added nine points and Marlies Askamp chipped in four points and nine rebounds for the Sol, who ended a four-game slide and avenged a 21-point loss at Indiana on June 5.

"We finally stopped the bleeding, and that helps," Miami coach Ron Rothstein said. "We have had this happen a couple of times before, only we couldn't come back. We had a good performance tonight."

Danielle McCulley scored a career-high 17 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Alicia Thompson netted 11 points for the Fever, who also have dropped six in a row at home.

"It happened in New York last night. We set up a play and don't even get the shot off," Indiana coach Anne Donovan said. "Turnovers are doing it to us."

The Fever blew an 18-point second-half lead on Friday against New York and lost, 72-70.

Sam was 8-of-15 from the field and made 2-of-3 3-pointers. She also contributed five rebounds and four assists.

"My teammates were getting me the ball and I was in good spots," said Sam. "We went to the basket. We made a point not to settle for the jump shot. We shot more off the dribble."

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half. Black's jumper in the final minute enabled Miami to take a 26-23 lead into intermission.

Sam had eight points during a 14-4 run that gave the Sol their biggest lead, 40-27, with just under 12 minutes to play. But Thompson fueled a 21-5 spurt with nine points as Indiana surged ahead, 48-45, with 5:17 left.

"We were kind of dead, even during warmup," McCulley said. "We need to be ready to bounce back from a game like last night's."

 


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RECAPS
Washington 78
Charlotte 74

Orlando 69
New York 57

Miami 54
Indiana 52

Los Angeles 75
Cleveland 67

Sacramento 108
Detroit 96

Utah 81
Seattle 60