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Plenette Pierson got a few in too
, the way they were shooting last night, they didn't need her. Deanna Nolan and Katie Smith were killing last night.
Plenette Pierson got a few in too
Lady Iverson and Kate are nails. I doubt there's ever been a better offensive guard tandem in league history.
The Shock are a bunch of crazy chicks. I don't know if I could have gotten into women's basketball without them.
The way we shoot inconsistently, though, we need Cheryl to go all the way. She's our first, last and only rebounder.
Kate is one scary looking chick though. Does she fem up off the court at all?
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.38ffe66.html
Basketball: Mercury take over top spot in West
Web Posted: 08/03/2007 12:26 AM CDT
Joe Ruiz
Special to the Express-News
On a career night for Shanna Crossley, her final shot fell just short as the Silver Stars dropped out of first place.
The Phoenix Mercury took sole possession of first place in the Western Conference after their 84-79 victory in front of 6,914 at the AT&T Center on Thursday night.
Crossley, who finished with a career-high 21 points on 7 of 15 shooting, came off a Becky Hammon screen with five seconds left and launched her 13th three-pointer of the night and drew iron.
"She's worked really hard on using screens and getting open and what you saw was an example of that," Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes said. "They went to zone a lot and that really opens pockets for her.
"She's evolving as a player and the key for her is finding space. I was glad to see her get that last look of the game."
Five of Crossley's threes came in the first half to give the Silver Stars to a 45-38 lead at the break.
Mercury guard Diana Taurasi led all scorers on the night with 24 points, 19 of which came in a second half when she became physical on both ends of the floor. She picked up four fouls, but her team drew eight from the Silver Stars in the half.
"We worked hard to emphasize not fouling them, we worked hard with the officials to look at a hard play at the basket as not necessarily a foul," Hughes said.
Late in the first and with Hammon on the sidelines in foul trouble, Silver Stars assistant coach Brian Agler urged Sophia Young to continue attacking the basket.
Young finished with 17 points and six rebounds, including three on the offensive end.
Thursday's loss drops the Silver Stars (16-10) to 6-6 on their home floor, an anomaly that Young said the team can't quite figure out.
"It's very disappointing. We play so well on the road and then we come home and have a tough time here; I don't know why," she said. "But give Phoenix credit, they're a tough team that came in here intense, but it got away from us in the third quarter."
Three minutes was all the Mercury needed to change the game's complexion. The Mercury outscored the Silver Stars 24-14 in the third, scoring half of those points off seven Silver Stars turnovers.
With 3:00 left in the third, the Silver Stars led 58-51, but the Mercury started running and freed Taurasi to fire. With 1:21 left in the quarter, Taurasi hit the first of three consecutive shots from behind the 3-point line and led the Mercury on an 11-1 run to close out the quarter.
"Sometimes it takes a quarter to get things going and today it took us a little longer," Taurasi said. "San Antonio is a really good team — it's not like we were playing against some slackers."
A barrage of shots fell for the Mercury as the fourth quarter rolled on — two layups, a short jumper and two threes later and the Mercury led by 12 with six minutes remaining.
"They're so gifted offensively," Hughes said. "I think our ability not to control the basketball in the third quarter gave them a chance to run and gave Taurasi those spot-up threes.
"Had we done a better job of controlling the basketball and controlling the tempo with our offense, I don't know if they get those quick looks."
Both teams had four scorers in double figures. Cappie Pondexter scored 18 for the Mercury and Ruth Riley scored 11 points while grabbing nine rebounds for the Silver Stars.
With the loss, the Silver Stars fell one game behind the Mercury (18-10) for the lead in the West and finish 1-3 in the season series against Phoenix.
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ING !
thats a blow..
wonder how many games are left...
Time to suit up E20?
There are 8 games left, but the magic number is now 2. Sparks and Comets losses help us out, and they're playing each other tonight.
I thought the Stars were going to get that comeback win last night. They came close.
Sandora Irvin and Camille Little had a great spurt where they both got into plays and forced a turnover, grabbed a rebound or hit a basket to spark the comeback. Camille even got smacked near the end of the game and was cut open.I thought the Stars were going to get that comeback win last night. They came close.
It was a surprisingly physical game.
Damn that intelligent, funny and overall badass E-N reporter for not mentioning that.
I take it you covered the game.
I bet he's one of those creepy guys trying to sneak a peek in the locker room.
Did I?I take it you covered the game.
*Checks byline*
Yup.
Sneak? I was escorted.
One of the Dallas radio guys from 1310 The Ticket lost a contest yesterday (fielding punts from the Cowboys punters) and his punishment was to cover the Silver Stars game. He called in with updates every 20 mins'...
Just finished reading your article. Nicely done.
. . . must . . . resist . . .
And what fun would that be?
She's got a point.
Okay . . . I didn't know the Silver Stars provided those services.
Perhaps you just keep writing poetry.
wow...phoenix moved into #1 in the west?
I only saw the play a few times, but wow... that team plays even less defense than the Suns...
If we can make it back to the finals, I hope the Mercury and their legion of 3-point chuckers are there waiting for us.
It's official! With the win tonight over the Sparks, the Silver Stars are in the playoffs for the first time since they moved to San Antonio.
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