Rockers Roll Up Lead and Get Even

CLEVELAND —  Suzie McConnell Serio’s retirement will have to wait.

The Cleveland Rockers rolled up a 21-point halftime lead and then held off the Orlando Miracle, 63-54, to tie their best-of-three WNBA Eastern Conference first-round series at 1-1 Sunday.

McConnell Serio, the former Olympian and onetime WNBA first-team point guard, had a one-for-nine shooting day in what would have been her last game if the Rockers had not avoided elimination with a strong performance by her backup, rookie Helen Darling, and shooting guard Merlakia Jones, who had 15 points each.

Ten of Darling’s points came in the first half, when the Rockers rang up 36-15 halftime margin.

Jones took over in the second half, scoring 11 of her points, including a key 14-foot jumper after the Miracle had closed the gap to 52-46 with 2:40 to play.

“I hit some big shots, but my teammates got me the ball,” Jones said. “This was totally a team effort.”

The effort showed on the boards, where the Rockers dominated the Miracle, 39-25, with Chasity Melvin picking up 10 rebounds and Rushia Brown nine. The Rockers’ 26 first-half rebounds were the most in a WNBA playoff game and the Miracle’s 15 first-half points were the least in the league’s playoffs.

“Cleveland crashed the boards hard,” Miracle Coach Carolyn Peck said.

“They were a much different team than they were in Orlando.”

The deciding Game 3 will be Tuesday night in Cleveland, where the Rockers were 13-3 during the regular season. Sunday’s loss was the Miracle’s ninth in a row on the road.

“That’s why you battle for home-court advantage,” Rocker Coach Dan Hughes said.

Adrienne Johnson scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half for the Miracle, which opened the second half with a 10-0 run after shooting only 22% (six for 27) in the first half.

“What we tried to do in the second half was push the ball a little more,” Miracle guard Shannon Johnson said.

“We knew we would get the same shots that we missed in the first half. We started to knock them down.”

The Rockers built their big halftime advantage by opening the game with a 12-0 run and increasing it to 29-7 in the first 16:36.