StingRays Gain First Place as Seattle Suffers Ruff Half

SEATTLE —  Long Beach, aided by Jenni Ruff’s spark off the bench, dominated Seattle in the second half Friday to reclaim first place in the ABL’s Western Conference.

The 83-67 victory came in front of an announced 3,403 and boosted the StingRays (23-15, .605) to a tiny lead over Portland (24-16, .600). It is Long Beach’s third consecutive victory and fourth in its last five.

Long Beach can stretch that lead out by a game on Sunday afternoon, when the Power visits the Pyramid.

Ruff scored nine points on three three-point shots to propel the StingRays to a 46-point second half. Yolanda Griffith had a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds for the StingRays.

Only six games remain for Long Beach in their 44-game schedule and the next two are at home. They finish with a four-game eastern road trip.

The StingRays, as deep as any team in the ABL, are now deeper with Ruff.

Maura McHugh’s team has been getting superlative play from reserves Trisha Stafford, Dana Wilkerson, Cass Bauer and Niesa Johnson all season, but Ruff had been marooned at the end of the bench.

A 5-foot-11 wing from Washington State, three-point shot specialist Ruff had averaged 12 minutes a game with San Jose last season, but was averaging 5 1/2 minutes a game with Long Beach.

before 3,403 and with 5:43 to go in the third quarter, and Seattle holding a 44-42 lead, McHugh put Ruff in when Seattle switched to a zone defense.

Her first basket, a three-pointer, came 17 seconds later and it gave the StingRays a 47-44 lead. Seattle never again led.

Two minutes later, she sank another from beyond the arc for a 52-44 lead and then she opened the fourth period with another bomb for a 63-48 lead.

Seattle (12-26) not only didn’t recover, the Reign in fact fell behind by 69-52 midway through the final quarter.

Yolanda Griffith had a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds for the StingRays.

Around the ABL

Carolyn Jones scored 19 points as New England clinched a playoff berth by beating Atlanta 88-81 in front of an announced 4,858 at Atlanta. The Glory pulled within 81-78 with 1:36 left after Edwards completed a three-point play. But a layup by Berry, a jumper by Karen Deden and a pair of free throws by Rizzotti clinched the victory for the Blizzard. Player-coach Teresa Edwards scored 27 points for Atlanta. New England will play the league’s fifth-seeded team in a best-of-three series starting Feb. 20 at Hartford Civic Center.

Crystal Robinson, playing with a sore back, scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half to lead Colorado to a 63-58 win over Philadelphia in front of an announced 4,129 at Denver. Robinson played only eight minutes in the first half but returned to score all 13 of Colorado’s points in the third quarter as the Xplosion battled back from a nine-point deficit. Adrienne Goodson scored 18 points and Amy Mallon added 13 for the Rage, who scored just nine points in the fourth quarter and lost for the 13th time in 14 games. Philadelphia led by three points heading into the fourth quarter, but Colorado stayed close and took a 60-58 lead when Tari Phillips made two free throws with 1:32 remaining. The Rage then turned the ball over on five straight possessions and the Xplosion made three free throws to put the game out of reach. Colorado needs one victory in its last four games or an Atlanta loss to qualify for the playoffs.