Johnson scored 26 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the field to lead the Shock to a 78-66 victory over the New York Liberty on Thursday night, for their third straight win and the franchise's longest in three seasons in Tulsa.
With just two road games remaining and Johnson a free agent after the season, nothing seems certain for 2013. Asked if she wanted to return, Johnson said, ``Of course.''
After thinking about it, she added: ``I won't rule it out. It's been a very difficult season, something I've never experienced. We've lived the highs and lows but you always want to make a difference in terms of turning things around. There's an upside (to this organization) and I may just be around to see it.''
Ivory Latta had 13 points and Amber Holt added 10 as the Shock (9-23) matched their victory total from the first two years since moving from Detroit before the 2010 season - a combined 9-59.
``Tonight was really a collective effort,'' Johnson said. ``Everyone came out with a lot of energy. We wanted to do this for the fans. When you are on the outside all you see is the record. You don't feel the energy of the fans. When I talked to coach (Gary Kloppenburg) during the offseason he made me want to come Tulsa. You don't want to be anywhere where you aren't wanted and the Shock wanted me. That was a plus.''
``Riquna hit a couple of big 3s for us,'' Kloppenburg said. ``We have gotten really great guard play particularly in the second half of the season. We really got our running game going. ... Temeka played outstanding tonight, so did Amber and Ivory. Temeka is probably the reason we've been winning of late.''
The Shock finish the season on the road, with the game at New York followed by the finale at Indiana on Sunday.
Kloppenburg acknowledged the team has a few free agents but added it was a priority to re-sign Johnson.
``For sure, we'd love to get Temeka back,'' Kloppenburg said. ``No question about that. We want to keep this team intact and add those two bigs (Tiffany Jones and Liz Cambage) back into the scheme. Ideally, that's what we want to do.''
