Detroit Shocks Stars In San Antonio

By Noah Ramirez: SPM Contributing Writer
Posted Thursday, October 2, 2008

"Defensively, we just weren't ourselves in that first half."

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The San Antonio Silver Stars had reined all season long against the Eastern Conference of the WNBA, but this wasn't the regular season anymore. This was Game One of the WNBA Finals, and this time the Eastern Conference representative, the Detroit Shock, continued to dominate with a 77-69 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night.

WNBA veteran and Shock forward Katie Smith led all scorers with 25 points, shooting 8-17 from the field and 4-8 from behind the arc. The Ohio State alumna more than doubled her playoff average of 12.2 points per game playing all 40 minutes of the contest. Right behind Smith was fellow forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin with 24 points on 11-16 shooting. What proved to be the real thorn in the Stars' side was Detroit's first-round pick, rookie Alexis Hornbuckle. while only shooting 1-6 with four points, she contributed immensely with her play on the defensive side of the ball.

"Hornbuckle scored two points, but her defense and her rebounding -- that's why we got her and why we drafted her -- and her presence on the court was phenomenal. To be a rookie and play that kind of pressure game and that kind of minutes..." Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer said of his rookie's performance.

Sophia Young, the essential element to the Stars' appearance in the Finals, led San Antonio with 21 points and nine rebounds. Center Ann Wauters added 16 points and seven rebounds. Guard Becky Hammon, who was the leading scorer of Game Three of the Western Conference Finals with 35 points, was held to 13 points on 4-10 shooting, including 0-3 from behind the three-point line.

The Silver Stars dug a hole for themselves in the second quarter, and they expended a great deal of energy climbing out of it. Detroit shot nearly 65 percent from the field in the frame while San Antonio struggled, shooting only 25 percent and going almost four minutes without a field goal.

"I thought we let them get too comfortable offensively," Hammon said of the second quarter. "Defensively, we just weren't ourselves in that first half. It's disappointing to come out and lack energy in a game like that."

Detroit controlled the first half, shooting 50 percent to San Antonio's 32 percent, and finishing the half on a four-point play from Smith. "I put it up and got hit in the chest," she said.

San Antonio reinvested their desire in the third quarter, outshooting the Shock 61.5 percent to 43.8 percent, but that only matched Detroit's point output as each team scored 17.

The Shock achieved its largest lead of the night in the fourth quarter -- 14 points -- on a 13-foot jump shot from Deanna Nolan, only to let the Stars back in the contest behind nine fourth-quarter points from Hammon.

Hammon tied the game on two free throws with 2:16 remaining, but those were the last points the Stars put on the board for the rest of Game One.

When asked her thoughts on the Stars' fourth-quarter surge and ultimate breakdown, forward Erin Buescher said, "To be down like we were in the game tonight, and then come back and not take care of business is frustrating. But the good thing is that we have four games ahead of us and we need to take care of business in the series."

As cliché as it sounds, all the stars were aligned for the San Antonio Silver Stars on Wednesday night. Their NBA counterpart, the San Antonio Spurs, were given a standing ovation in route to their seats, with NBA Hall-of-Famer David Robinson receiving the same. The Stars had been perfect all season against teams from the East, but the team with Finals fondness proved too strong in the end.

"To win game one on someone else's court is always hard," Detroit center Kara Braxton said, "But we know the next game [was] probably going to be tougher, so we just have to buckle down and take care of business."