HOUSTON (AP) -- Nancy Lieberman savored every moment of her brief return to professional basketball, even throwing in a no-look pass.

The 50-year-old Hall of Famer had two assists and two turnovers in the Detroit Shock's 79-61 loss to the Houston Comets on Thursday night.

Lieberman made a one-time only appearance in the Shock's first game since Tuesday night's bench-clearing melee with the Los Angeles Sparks.

Five Shock players were suspended and Cheryl Ford sustained a season-ending injury, prompting coach Bill Laimbeer to offer Lieberman a seven-day contract.

"I appreciate what Bill did for me and for women's basketball," Lieberman said.

Lieberman played nine minutes, seven in the fourth quarter, when the game's outcome was decided. The Shock players tried to get her in a position to score every time down the floor at the end, but Lieberman could only get off one shot and missed it off the rim.

With 1:16 left, she zipped a no-look pass to Olayinka Sanni in the lane and Sanni put it in, prompting some of the loudest applause of the night from the crowd of 7,261.

"I think I'll be able to pass when I'm in a wheelchair," she said. "Hopefully, that won't be too soon. But I've always been able to pass and it's fun to make people better."

The Comets lined up to hug Lieberman after the game and Lieberman posed for pictures and signed autographs for fans for nearly a half an hour. She was hardly sweating after the game and took satisfaction in knowing she kept up with the rest of the players, some of whom were half her age.

"I felt like I showed I could get up and down the floor and I could play and I'm not running around on one of the geriatric teams," she said. "These are great players and the fact I can get out there with them, it's fantastic."

Lieberman defended her contract, calling it more a necessity for the Shock than a gimmick to counter the negativity generated by the ugly incident on Tuesday.

"In a crazy way, the timing is good," she said. "Bill never looked at this like a circus or an opportunity for a novelty. He looked at it as, 'You know what, I have a roster spot available and I was excited to do it.'

"The other night was really sad and I was very disappointed," she said. "But today is a day to celebrate the history of the game and this league and to inspire people."

Lieberman said she and Laimbeer had been talking about her joining the team for almost two weeks.

Laimbeer said he was impressed watching Lieberman run through a skills test at last year's WNBA All-Star Game. He said he would pursue a seven-day contract with her if the situation ever arose.

Laimbeer liked what he saw.

"Better than I expected," he said. "Our players were very into having her on our basketball team. They had a good time."

Part of Lieberman's motivation for Thursday's game was the opportunity to break another barrier.

She was 18 when she played for the U.S. Olympic team in Montreal in 1976 and became the youngest player to earn a medal when the team took silver. A decade later, she became the first woman to play in a men's professional league when she joined the Springfield Fame of the USBL. And now, twice, she's become the oldest player to compete in the WNBA.

"Here I am at 50. How amazing is it?" she said. "We all have patterns. Mine are risk-reward and I'm willing to do what I have to do for my team. I'm very proud of this shot and this opportunity."

Lieberman played at Old Dominion from 1976-80 and led the school to two national titles. She averaged 15.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists during her 17-year professional playing career.

She was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame three years later.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)