Silver Stars Luster Too Much For the Monarchs

By Kecia Bailey: SPM CA Writer
Posted Friday, September 19, 2008

Becky Hammon led the Silver Stars with a game-high 30 points. Photo by George Young.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The old adage goes, don’t make mountains out of molehills. Those would have been good words to heed for the Sacramento Monarchs in game one of their Western Conference playoff series against the visiting San Antonio Silver Stars. What started out as an early molehill turned into what ultimately became an insurmountable mountain, as the Monarchs fell to the Silver Stars, 85-78, in front of an announced crowd of 7,740 Thursday night at ARCO Arena.

“Any time you have a chance to walk out with a win in Sacramento you have to feel really good. This has always been a tough environment to play in and you saw why tonight,” San Antonio head coach Dan Hughes said, after the game.

Riding an eight-game regular season winning streak in to Thursday, the Monarchs had hoped to make their home court as formidable a place to play as it has been in the post season. The Monarchs had only lost three playoff games at home.

But Sacramento also would be rolling uphill into the playoffs without one of their leading scorers and rebounders, losing Rebekkah Brunson for the series on Wednesday due to cartilage damage in her surgically repaired right knee.

“We’re the underdogs,” team captain Ticha Penicheiro said before the game. “If we can keep the Silver Stars a little bit under control [with Sacramento’s defense], anything can happen.”

At the outset, it looked promising as Monarchs center Adrian Williams-Strong opened the scoring with a 13-foot jumper 30 seconds into the start of the game. That would be the only time the Monarchs led Thursday. Despite four ties early in the quarter, Sacramento slowly lost the control Penicheiro thought would be key as Becky Hammon’s consecutive 3-pointers aided a late-quarter 10-3 run to help the Silver Stars build a 22-13 mountain by the end of first.

With the Monarchs struggling on offense (shooting 39 percent from the floor), the Silver Stars began to pull farther away, shooting a blistering 67 percent from the floor and leading by as many as 20 points in the first half and taking a 16-point lead into the half . With a balanced attack, points for San Antonio came from everywhere as all seven players who logged minutes in the first half scored. Doing most of the damage was Hammon, who led all scorers with 13 points. It turned out, she was just warming up.

In the third quarter, the Monarchs found the rhythm they lacked in the first half. Down by as many as 21 points midway through the fourth, Sacramento began its ascent with inspired play from the bench. The Monarchs' tenacious defensive play forced the Silver Stars into nine turnovers, and helped narrow the deficit to 11 points, but Becky Hammon closed the third with her sixth 3-pointer in as many tries to stem the Monarchs' push.

Facing long odds and a big deficit on her 34th birthday, Ticha Penicheiro began to take matters into her own hands in the fourth. With the San Antonio defense continuing to stymie Monarchs' sharp-shooters Nicole Powell and Kara Lawson, Penicheiro scored 11 of her team-high 19 points in the final quarter as the Monarchs mounted their final comeback charge.

But it was Sophia Young’s time to turn the Monarchs back. Young nearly matched Penicheiro, scoring nine of her 17 points in the fourth to help keep the Monarchs at bay. The relentless Monarchs pushed on though. Shooting 70 percent in the fourth quarter, they had pulled to within 78-73 with 36.5 remaining.

The Monarchs shot 70 percent in the fourth quarter, closing to a two-possession game (78-73 with 36.5 seconds left), but Hammon and Johnson converted free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Already strapped playing without Brunson, the Monarchs found themselves hampered as the San Antonio defense was able to deny them Kara Lawson. At game’s end, the Monarchs guard had been limited to only five shots. Sacramento, the league’s leading three-point shooting team, also had been held to only one three-point make, and that came with 3:31 to go as Penicheiro connected from the perimeter.

Penicheiro’s performance tied her career playoff high for points. Knowing that the San Antonio game plan would be to take Powell and Lawson away, Penicheiro said she made a conscious effort to take advantage of the offensive opening it gave her.

“They were sagging off me. I just wanted to be aggressive and look for my shot and try to tire Becky Hammon on defense. I just wanted to push the ball and see how the defense was playing. I felt I could go all the way to the basket unless I found somebody cutting because I knew they weren’t going to leave Nicole [Powell] and Kara [Lawson],” she said.

In addition to her points, Penicheiro finished with seven assists and three steals. Nicole Powell had 12 points and starting in place of Rebekkah Brunson, rookie Crystal Kelly added 12 points.

“Sacramento did a good job with our posts," head coach Dan Hughes said. "That’s the defensive dilemma we create, if you want to take away our posts you’re going to give Becky some space … I’ve watched her for two years, she’s really an efficient player.”

"My first shot was a bank shot, so I felt pretty lucky at that point and that it might be a good night," Hammon said with a smile..

Hammon finished with a game-high 30 points on 9 of 14 shooting and a tidy 6-8 from the perimeter. Joining her in double-figures were Sophia Young with 17 points, Vickie Johnson with 13 and former Monarch Erin Buescher with 10.

The loss at home created another mountain for the Monarchs as they'll head to San Antonio to try to beat a team that has only lost twice at home -- an arena where Sacramento last claimed victory in 2006.

Knowing the odds against them, Sacramento head coach Jenny Boucek said her team will be ready to take on that challenge.

“We’re going to believe until the end … we’re going to believe we can do this collectively if we take it one possession at a time -- with the urgency we played with in the second half," she said. "But we can’t dig that kind of hole again against a quality team like that.”

Hammon doesn’t take home court advantage for granted. “We know they’re not a team that's going to go away, they have a lot of character and heart in that locker room," she said. "They showed it tonight by not giving up and by fighting back.”

Game 2 of the 3-game series will take place at the AT&T Center on Saturday night at 6pm PT. The matchup will be aired nationally on NBA-TV. Game 3, if necessary, is set to tip off on Monday at 6pm PDT, again at the AT&T Center.

*Updated Sept 20 4:32pm

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