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http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...480.story?page=2&coll=la-headlines-sports-nba
She gets her first league crown as Detroit rallies to beat Sacramento, 80-75, in deciding Game 5. Nolan is chosen MVP after scoring 24 points.
From the Associated Press
September 10, 2006
DETROIT — Katie Smith has won an Olympic gold medal, an American Basketball League title and scored 5,000 points in the pros.
Entering this season, though, her potential Hall of Fame resume lacked one crucial element: a WNBA championship.
Smith scored 17 points and made two pivotal shots in the fourth quarter to secure the Detroit Shock's 80-75 victory over the defending champion Sacramento Monarchs in the deciding Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. It was Detroit's second WNBA title in the last four years.
Deanna Nolan was chosen the finals' most valuable player after a 24-point performance Saturday, but it was Smith who was getting all the attention after the game.
"This one is special," said Smith, who scored in double figures in four of the series' five games. "When you are younger, you think you'll get chance after chance after chance, but now I know that's not how it works."
Smith hurled the ball high in the air as time expired, and the party was on at Joe Louis Arena and its announced crowd of more than 19,000 — the second-highest total in the history of the finals.
"Katie's a great, great player, and she did just what we expected her to do," Shock Coach Bill Laimbeer said. "She could have easily been the MVP too."
The game was not at The Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Shock usually plays, because of a Mariah Carey concert, but the fans were plenty loud and helped Detroit continue the trend of the home team winning every deciding game in the 10-year history of the WNBA Finals.
Sacramento, for a half at least, looked as if it would win two championships in a row. It had the lead throughout the second quarter and took a 44-36 halftime advantage thanks to Kara Lawson's running jump shot with one second remaining.
But Nolan scored 10 points during a game-changing 18-3 run to open the second half and the Shock never trailed again.
Nolan, a smooth shooting guard known as "Tweety" — she even has a tattoo of the famous cartoon bird — said she was relieved that the Shock pulled it out.
"It just felt unreal, because we worked so hard and then the moment finally came and we won it all," she said.
Nolan, Cheryl Ford, Swin Cash and Ruth Riley had all been a part of the Shock's 2003 title team too.
For the defending champion Monarchs, the loss brought a much different reaction.
"I'm really angry and upset with the way we played," Sacramento's Nicole Powell said. "Detroit is a good team, but when you give a team those transition shots in the final game of the series, it's very disappointing."
Powell refused to give up, making a three-point shot to draw the Monarchs to within three points, at 78-75, with 33 seconds to play.
But Smith answered with a 17-foot shot that helped seal the win.
"It's over," she said she was thinking. "It's finally over."
In the first half the Shock was outplayed in much the same way it was during decisive losses in Games 1 and 3. But Detroit came on strong when it counted.
Trailing by eight at the half, the Shock made its first four shots of the third quarter and clamped down on defense, causing Sacramento to miss 17 of its 19 shots in the period.
The Monarchs were led by Lawson's 17 points and former Michigan State star Kristin Haynie's 13.
She gets her first league crown as Detroit rallies to beat Sacramento, 80-75, in deciding Game 5. Nolan is chosen MVP after scoring 24 points.
From the Associated Press
September 10, 2006
DETROIT — Katie Smith has won an Olympic gold medal, an American Basketball League title and scored 5,000 points in the pros.
Entering this season, though, her potential Hall of Fame resume lacked one crucial element: a WNBA championship.
Smith scored 17 points and made two pivotal shots in the fourth quarter to secure the Detroit Shock's 80-75 victory over the defending champion Sacramento Monarchs in the deciding Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. It was Detroit's second WNBA title in the last four years.
Deanna Nolan was chosen the finals' most valuable player after a 24-point performance Saturday, but it was Smith who was getting all the attention after the game.
"This one is special," said Smith, who scored in double figures in four of the series' five games. "When you are younger, you think you'll get chance after chance after chance, but now I know that's not how it works."
Smith hurled the ball high in the air as time expired, and the party was on at Joe Louis Arena and its announced crowd of more than 19,000 — the second-highest total in the history of the finals.
"Katie's a great, great player, and she did just what we expected her to do," Shock Coach Bill Laimbeer said. "She could have easily been the MVP too."
The game was not at The Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Shock usually plays, because of a Mariah Carey concert, but the fans were plenty loud and helped Detroit continue the trend of the home team winning every deciding game in the 10-year history of the WNBA Finals.
Sacramento, for a half at least, looked as if it would win two championships in a row. It had the lead throughout the second quarter and took a 44-36 halftime advantage thanks to Kara Lawson's running jump shot with one second remaining.
But Nolan scored 10 points during a game-changing 18-3 run to open the second half and the Shock never trailed again.
Nolan, a smooth shooting guard known as "Tweety" — she even has a tattoo of the famous cartoon bird — said she was relieved that the Shock pulled it out.
"It just felt unreal, because we worked so hard and then the moment finally came and we won it all," she said.
Nolan, Cheryl Ford, Swin Cash and Ruth Riley had all been a part of the Shock's 2003 title team too.
For the defending champion Monarchs, the loss brought a much different reaction.
"I'm really angry and upset with the way we played," Sacramento's Nicole Powell said. "Detroit is a good team, but when you give a team those transition shots in the final game of the series, it's very disappointing."
Powell refused to give up, making a three-point shot to draw the Monarchs to within three points, at 78-75, with 33 seconds to play.
But Smith answered with a 17-foot shot that helped seal the win.
"It's over," she said she was thinking. "It's finally over."
In the first half the Shock was outplayed in much the same way it was during decisive losses in Games 1 and 3. But Detroit came on strong when it counted.
Trailing by eight at the half, the Shock made its first four shots of the third quarter and clamped down on defense, causing Sacramento to miss 17 of its 19 shots in the period.
The Monarchs were led by Lawson's 17 points and former Michigan State star Kristin Haynie's 13.