NEW YORK -- Madison Square Garden and New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas have settled the sexual harassment case brought by a former team executive who was awarded $11.6 million in punitive damages.

Terms of the settlement were not immediately disclosed.

"I am extremely pleased that we have reached a settlement," Anucha Browne Sanders said in a statement.

The deal came as compensatory damages were about to be added and as Browne Sanders was preparing to return to U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where her description of her ordeal with the Knicks exposed the club's tawdry side, from its dysfunctional clubhouse to the sexual exploits of a star player, Stephon Marbury, with a Knicks intern.

"As I have said before, I am completely innocent," Thomas said. "This decision doesn't change that. However, this is the best course for Madison Square Garden, and I fully support it."

MSG added: "We don't feel any less strongly than we did throughout the entire episode. The outcome was a travesty of justice, and we vehemently disagree with the jury's decision, however, at the strong request of [the NBA commissioner] and in the interest of focusing on basketball, we can all agree that it is time for us to move on and put this issue behind us."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press