Hammon, a three-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year at Colorado State, scored 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting (4 of 6 three-pointers) yesterday to lead the Liberty in scoring for the second straight game.

"Becky Hammon was just incredibly unbelievable," Richie Adubato said.

In the previous game, the third-year guard didn't miss in eight attempts, producing 21 points in a blowout win at Phoenix. Her two-game total of 42 equals Tari Phillips' effort against Washington (June 10) and Charlotte (June 12) as the Liberty's best back-to-back performance of the year.

Along with Crystal Robinson (13 points), Hammon has benefited most from the off-the-ball play of the Liberty frontcourt players in the last several games.

By setting better screens and making sharper passes, the post players have helped provide Hammon with plenty of open looks from the perimeter. From there, she makes the opposition pay.

Like everyone else, Hammon (5-6, 136) couldn't help getting mixed up in physical play yesterday.

"[The Sparks] play hard and we matched them," Hammon said. "We're not exactly known as a hands-off team, either." Hammon's shooting, though, is where she makes her mark. She is shooting 56.3 from the floor and 52.4 from beyond the arc.

In her first two seasons, her scoring average went from 2.7 to 10.9. It stands at 10.4 this year.

Dixon Misses the Mark Sparks guard Tamecka Dixon had an uncharacteristically cold shooting day.

The Linden (N.J.) High product shot 2 of 13 and ended up with 8 points, 6 turnovers, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

"She usually kills us," Richie Adubato said.

When the Liberty and Sparks met in an exhibition on May 12, Dixon hit 7 of 13 field goals, scored 19 points and had nine assists with one turnover. In the teams' two regular-season games in 2000, she shot .643 from the floor and totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Before yesterday's game, she was second on the Sparks with 11.8 points and ranked first with 4.0 assists.

Liberty Lines Thanks largely to Becky Hammon, the Liberty gets 27.9 percent of its scoring, or 20.0 points, off the bench . . . The Liberty's seventh consecutive win ties a franchise mark it set in 1997, when it won the first seven games in team history. . . Despite all of Richie Adubato's talk on the importance of defense, the Liberty has won 23 straight regular-season games in which it has scored at least 70 points . . . Yesterday, the team recorded an amazing 15 assists on its first 20 baskets. It finished with 24 assists;eight by Teresa Weatherspoon and six by Vickie Johnson.