The WNBA punished so many players for their roles in this week's skirmish that the league is staggering the suspensions by alphabetical order.

"None of us can recall an incident like this," WNBA president Donna Orender said yesterday during a conference call.

The league suspended Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn and 10 players following the dustup between the Shock and the visiting Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday.

Shock forward Plenette Pierson was suspended for four games, the harshest penalty, for initiating and escalating the altercation.

"In our opinion, Plenette was the aggressor," said Renee Brown, the WNBA's chief of basketball operations and player relations.

Mahorn was suspended for two games, as were Shannon Bobbitt and Murriel Page of the Sparks, for the incident at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

"As a team, we're incensed that Rick Mahorn was suspended," Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Houston, where the Shock were scheduled to play the Comets. "He was trying to be a peacemaker and now he's being thrown under the bus."

Brown said Mahorn only started off as a peacemaker before he shoved Sparks star Lisa Leslie.

"Then he took it a step too far," she said. "When he pushed Lisa, it escalated the situation."

Players suspended for one game included Detroit's Kara Braxton, Tasha Humphrey, Elaine Powell and Sheri Sam, along with Los Angeles' Leslie, Candace Parker and DeLisha Milton-Jones.

"I feel sorry for Bobbitt and for Murriel getting two games for coming off the bench, but that is what the league felt necessary," Parker said.

Four of the suspended Shock players and Mahorn began serving their suspensions last night, when Detroit played at Houston. Sam was on the active roster, but the Shock were left with eight players for the game, including 50-year-old Nancy Lieberman, who signed a seven-day contract yesterday and played nine minutes off the bench.

Pierson was also fined $1,500 and Mahorn was docked $1,000. The rest of the players involved were fined $500 each.

NBA BETTING SCANDAL

PRISON FOR TWO MEN

Two former high school classmates of disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy were both sentenced to more than a year in prison yesterday for their roles in a betting scandal that embarrassed the league.

A federal judge in Brooklyn gave James Battista, a professional gambler and admitted drug addict, 15 months in prison for making bets based on inside tips. Thomas Martino, the scheme's middleman, was sentenced to a year and one day for paying the referee thousands of dollars for the tips.

The men, both 42 and former classmates of Donaghy in Springfield, Pa., apologized before being sentenced.

WARRIORS

ELLIS RE-SIGNED

The Golden State Warriors made sure they would have Monta Ellis in their backcourt at least for the near future, re-signing the explosive guard to a multiyear contract yesterday.

Ellis, who was a restricted free agent, is expected to take over at point guard next season in Don Nelson's up-tempo offense after two-time All-Star Baron Davis opted out of his contract earlier this month to join his hometown team, the Los Angeles Clippers.

The 22-year-old Ellis, selected out of high school in the second round of the 2005 NBA draft, averaged career bests of 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.53 steals in 37.9 minutes and 81 games last season. He was named the NBA's Most Improved Player after the 2006-07 campaign.

Earlier yesterday, the Warriors announced that shooting guard Kelenna Azubuike would return after the club matched the Clippers' three-year, $9 million offer sheet.

MAVERICKS

LOW SCORES NINE IN WIN

'Iolani and Washington State alum Derrick Low had nine points and one rebound in the Dallas Mavericks' 81-66 victory over the New Jersey Nets yesterday in the offseason Rocky Mountain Revue league in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Low, a guard, played 14 minutes and 50 seconds and went 4-of-5 from the floor and made his only 3-point attempt.