HOUSTON – The defending WNBA champion Houston Comets got 69 points from their three top players and scored 49 points in the second half to hand the Cleveland Rockers an 87-73 loss Thursday night.

Sheryl Swoopes scored 25, Tina Thompson 23 and Cynthia Cooper 21 for the Comets.

The Rockers were led by Janice Braxton, who scored 13 points. Former University of Maine star Cindy Blodgett had 11. Eight of her points came in the final 1:15 of the game.

CLEVELAND (73)

Brown 1-4 1-2 3. Nemcova 3-11 0-0 7, Braxton 5-9 3-5 13, Jones 3-5 4-6 10, McConnell-Serio 4-9 0-0 9, Johnson 3-7 1-2 8, Fijalkowski 5-8 0-0 10, Blodgett 3-6 3-4 11, Bevilaqua 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-61 12-19 73. HOUSTON (87)

Swoopes 7-13 10-11 25, Thompson 9-13 3-3 23, Lamb 1-3 2-2 4, Cooper 7-14 4-6 21, Perrot 1-6 0-0 2, Arcain 3-8 1-2 7, Moore 1-4 3-4 5, Roberts 0-1 0-0 0, Woosley 0-0 0-0 0, Valdemoro 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 23-28 87. Cleveland 38 35-73 Houston 38 49-87

3-Point goals-Cleveland 5-12 (Nemcova 1-1, McConnell-Serio 1-3, Johnson 1-4, Blodgett 2-4), Houston 6-17 (Swoopes 1-1, Thompson 2-6, Cooper 3-6, Perrot 0-3, Arcain 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Cleveland 41 (Fijalkowski 9), Houston 37 (Thompson 6). Assists-Cleveland 18 (McConnell-Serio 7), Houston 18 (Cooper 7). Total fouls-Cleveland 24, Houston 19. A-8,853.