By D. Clarke Evans, NBAE/Getty Images
Guard Ivory Latta, driving past Silver Stars guard Danielle Robinson, scored 15 points and added four assists in the Shock's 80-70 win.
By D. Clarke Evans, NBAE/Getty Images
Guard Ivory Latta, driving past Silver Stars guard Danielle Robinson, scored 15 points and added four assists in the Shock's 80-70 win.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Temeka Johnson scored 18 points to lead the Tulsa Shock to an 80-70 victory against the playoff-bound San Antonio Silver Stars on Sunday.
Ivory Latta added 15 points and Roneeka Hodges 11 for Tulsa (8-23), which won its second straight after a four-game skid.
Sophia Young scored 15 points and Danielle Adams 12 to lead San Antonio (19-12), which has lost seven of 10 since a 12-game winning streak. Becky Hammon and Jia Perkins both scored 10 points.
BOX SCORE: Shock 80, Silver Stars 70
Young's layup with 4:57 was San Antonio's last points until Adams hit a short jumper with 25.2 seconds left.
The fourth quarter started off as the third did, with San Antonio opening strongly only to have Tulsa respond with its own run.
Adams' layup completed a 6-0 run that tied game at 64, but the Shock regained the lead when Jennifer Lacy made a layup and Hodges a 3-pointer for a 69-64 advantage.
Courntey Paris' layup gave Tulsa a 74-68 lead with 2:56 left in the game, and neither team scored until Latta's jumper about 80 seconds later.
San Antonio finished the game shooting 39 percent from the field (26 for 66) after both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field in the first half.
Johnson hit consecutive 3s to give Tulsa an 11-7 lead with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. Young responded with a pair of layups to tie the game at 11. Young's one-foot jumper gave the Silver Stars their first lead of the game at 15-13.
The Silver Stars' energy helped them take a 22-20 lead into the second quarter.
San Antonio took a 20-15 lead when Hammon leapt and tossed the ball backward to prevent a backcourt violation. Young gathered the ball near midcourt and fired to Danielle Robinson in the right corner, who found a cutting Perkins for an 8-foot jumper.
The physicality grew in the second quarter, which produced a bizarre non-call. Tim Greene blew his whistle as several players battled under the basket during a Tulsa possession, but he allowed play to continue when Kurt Walker slapped his hands together to signal the ball was touched. Greene never acknowledged his whistle even though play stopped momentarily prior to Walker assessing a separate foul several seconds later.
Latta's 3-pointer and pull-up jumper from the free throw line gave Tulsa a 30-27 lead. Riquna Williams' 3 extended the lead to 33-29.
Johnson's driving layup gave Tulsa 41-35 lead and prompted a timeout from Hughes with 2:07 left in the first half.
Perkins scored with 2.3 second left to pull the Stars within 48-44 at the half after scoring a layup on her third steal of the first half.
San Antonio opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take a 52-48 lead.
Hodges' 3-pointer completed a 7-2 run that gave the Shock a 55-54 lead with 6 minutes left in the third quarter.
San Antonio regained a 58-55 lead on baskets by Jayne Appel and Robinson, but Tulsa closed the quarter 9-0 run to take a 64-58 lead after three quarters.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
No comments:
Post a Comment