The Daily News Leader from Staunton, Virginia • 11

The Daily News Leader PORTS Section Monday, September 6, 1999 Sports Editor Steve Cox, 885-7281, Ext. 130 Comets three-peat in' WNBA Inside Today i 1,111 ii ui a ft 1 If ft here physically but she was definitely here win A i1 Third title was for Perrot The Associated Press HOUSTON The Houston Comets' third WNBA championship was one for Kim. One day after playing one of her worst games, Cynthia Cooper played one of her toughest, scoring 24 points as the Comets remained the league's only champion, beating the New York Liberty 59-47 Sunday. Even in the heat of the championship game, thoughts were never far from Comets guard Kim Perrot, who died Aug. 19 following a seven-month battle with cancer.

"We said that Kim wasn't She finished 13-of-15 from the foul line. "I wanted to establish that I'd be a force to be reckoned with from the beginning," Cooper said. "It feels good, especially after all we've been through this year." Liberty coach Richie Adubato called Cooper the difference. "Both teams played good defense," Adubato said. "I thought we stopped their people and they stopped our people.

The person that made the difference was Cynthia Cooper." The Comets put on a late spurt for a 33-25 halftime lead and they expanded that to 38-27 with 15:33 left in the game, then both sides got sloppy. il We said that Kim wasn't here physically but she was definitely here in spirit. Sheryl Swoopes, Comets forward urday 's 68-67 last-second loss, equaled that with her first shot Sunday and then helped the Comets break it open in the second half. Lib i ft- i The Associated Press Jeff Burton 1 Jeff Burton earns a sweep at Darlington The Associated Press Houston Comets guard Cynthia Cooper holds up the Jersey of former teammate Kim Perrot after the Comets won their third WNBA title Sunday. Details on page B5 Narrow escape for Venus II 4- I ,1 in spirit," forward 1 Swoopes said.

"She will always be a part of the Comets." One banner read "3 for 10" imploring the Comets to win their third WNBA title for Perrot, who wore No. 10. The Comets did just that by winning the final game of the best-of-3 series. In the emotional final moments, the crowd broke into chants of "three for Kim, three for Kim." Cooper, who was just 1-for-10 from the field in Sat- others. But the worst effect of the weather came from a light sprinkle that hit early in the second set of the Williams-Fernandez match and totally changed the outcome.

Williams, seeded No. 3, reached the quarterfinals with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory that stemmed entirely from a fall by Fernandez when she slipped on a wet spot chasing a shot behind the baseline. Fernandez served superbly and broke an erratic Williams three times in the first set but was never the same after it Pxf Venus Williams stretches back to serve during her third round match Sunday against Mary Joe Nicolas Escude vs. Fernandez. Marcelo Rios (10) Williams needs three sets to beat Fernandez UNC offense: Curry QB carries too much load The Associated Press CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

Once again, North Carolina's best offense was a Ronald Curry ad-lib. That certainly wasn't the game plan for the Tar Heels. Curry appeared to have progressed as a passer and coach Carl Torbush wanted more pocket-type throwing from his talented sophomore. What Torbush got Saturday in a season-opening 20-17 loss to Virginia was a repeat of Curry's freshman season, where he often would take a second or two to look for a receiver, and then take off. The running joke in the press box was that North Carolina's best play call against the Cavaliers was a busted one in which Curry ran the ball.

North Carolina ran 70 plays in the loss. Curry was involved in 44 of them, passing 28 times and running 16 more times. "That's a lot of offense on one man. I hope he holds up," Virginia coach George Welsh said of the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Curry. "He's going to get hammered.

We're not running that well on defense right now. When he gets faster kids on defense and he starts running around I hope he holds up." That fact was not lost on Torbush when asked about Curry's performance. "I like to see Ronald Curry with excitement and movement, but not where he's got to make every play," Torbush said. "That's basically what it turned into late in the ball game." No. 11, Virginia Tech had never started a season so highly regarded nationally, and fans clad in maroon and orange came to see for themselves what role Vick would play in the Hokies' fortunes.

The 47-0 victory provided more than enough to make them leave buzzing. They groaned when Vick's first pass, a 20-yard out to Jarrett Ferguson, bounced well short, and then when his second effort went for only a yard to Shyrone Stith, forcing Jimmy Kibble to punt after a three-and-out series. On the second series, Vick started to show them Please tee parjeBW Today's Featured Matches Day session begins at 11 a.m. Arthur Ashe Stadium Day Session Jennifer Capriati vs. Monica Seles (4) Arnaud Clement vs.

Andre Agassi (2) Mary Pierce (5) vs. Sabine Appelmans Night Session Play begins at 7:30 p.m. Julie Halard-Decugis vs. Lindsay Davenport (2) Vince Spadea vs. Richard Krajicek (12) Louis Armstrong Stadium Serena Williams (7) vs.

Conchita Martinez (16) Andrei Medvedev vs. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (3) Grandstand thing," Fernandez said. "I dragged my foot a little bit on the court, saw that it was kind of slick. I asked and we stopped. But once you get started, you want to keep playing.

I thought maybe it's going to stop. But it was too slippery." In the only other women's matches completed Sunday afternoon, Anke Huber continued her comeback from injury to knock off Australian Open finalist and No. 15 seed Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-4, and No. 12 Barbara Schett beat Elena Likhovt-seva6-0, 6-1. "After that first possession I got comfortable and things just started clicking." I Michael Vick, Hokies QB most of the nearly 52,000 fans brought to Lane Stadium for the season-opener against James Madison.

At The Associated Press "It was definitely related to the rain," Fernandez said. "It started to sprinkle and the court gets very, very slippery right away. My foot just slid." Fernandez hadn't wanted to stop at the time, but in hindsight wished that she had said something to the umpire about halting play when the rain started to fall. "I should have," she said. "I didn't." The rain had interrupted the match earlier, with Fernandez leading the first set 5-1.

"It was kind of the same The Associated Press Barry Sanders Retirements leave big voids for three teams Details on page B10 Casserly leaves Redskins after more than two decades Details on page B10 NFL rosters trimmed down to 53-man limit Details on page B10 Valley District girls' cross country preview Details on page B4 Coming Tuesday A preview of the Robert E. Lee, Fort Defiance, Stuarts Draft and Waynesboro boys' cross country teams as each prepare to do battle in the Valley District. Happening This Week H.S. Football Friday's Games Lee High at Fort Defiance Stuarts Draft at Broadway Turner Ashby at Waynesboro Parry McCluer at Buffalo Gap Riverheads at James River George Mason at Wilson Bath County at East Hardy (WV) H.S. Girls' Basketball Tuesday's Games Broadway at Lee High Stuarts Draft at Fort Defiance Wilson at Waynesboro Buffalo Gap at Bath County James River at Riverheads Thursday's Games Lee High at Stuarts Draft Waynesboro at Fort Defiance Parry McCluer at Buffalo Gap Bath County at Wilson falling in the third game of the second set and straining the quadriceps muscle in her right leg.

Play was suspended at that point for about an hour and a half, and Fernandez was able to use the time to receive treatment from a trainer. Fernandez returned with her upper right leg wrapped, but her movement clearly was limited as she ran more slowly and played more tentatively. She managed to hold serve to 3-1, but lost the next nine games as Williams picked up her own game. TTT Leg injury slowed down Fernandez The Associated Press NEW YORK Venus Williams, as wild as the weather in a first-set fiasco, escaped an upset Sunday at the U.S. Open after Mary Joe Fernandez strained a leg muscle skidding on a slippery court.

A rainy, blustery fringe of tropical storm Dennis delayed the start of play, interrupted every afternoon match and caused the postponement of eight Vick lives up to hype Hokies' heralded freshman makes impressive debut The Associated Press BLACKSBURG The hype leading into Virginia Tech's first game only figures to intensify after quarterback Michael Vick's scintillating debut that showcased his passing and tailback-like elusiveness. Vick's pejfomance as the llth-ranked Hokies' signal-caller on Saturday was better than anyone could have expected, even against a Division I-AA opponent that was young, learning a new system and coming off a 3-8 season. Expectations were what The Associated Press Virginia Tech's heralded freshman quarterback Michael Vick flips Into the end zone for a touchdown against JMU Saturday..