Silver Stars shock Tulsa 83-74
TULSA, OK. - The Tulsa Shock suffered another heartbreaking loss Thursday morning, as they fell to the San Antonio Silver Stars 83-74 before a 'kid's day' crowd of 4,636. As was the case in the Shock's
opener five days earlier, Tulsa stumbled out of the gate before tying the game at the half and then unsuccessfully attempting to crawl back into it late in the contest. Former Baylor standout Sophia Young led all scorers with 23 points on the night as the Shock suffered their second home loss of the season. Nerves appeared to be present at the beginning of the game, but not as badly as they were in front of a sold out opening night crowd last Saturday night. San Antonio jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before Tulsa settled, climbing back as close as within three points. The Silver Stars jumped out to a ten-point lead, their largest of the game at that point, on a Edwige Lawson-Wade trey with 5:27 remaining. The Shock shot 56.3 percent from the field in the opening quarter as Plenette Pierson and Shanna Crossley led Tulsa scorers with nine and eight points respectively. Young and Lawson-Wade each provided nine points for the Silver Stars. Crossley scored seven of the Shock's first 11 points while highly touted rookie Marion Jones scored her first professional points at the 3:23 mark. San Antonio entered the first break with a 28-23 lead. Amber Holt gave the Shock it's first lead with 2:32 remaining in the second when she sank a layup while drawing a foul. Holt would sink the free throw and Tulsa briefly took a two point lead before Belinda Snell sank a pair of charity shots to tie the game at 38-38. Another free throw, followed by a layup from Young with 18 seconds left increased the San Antonio lead to three until Alexis Hornbuckle nailed a trey with 4 seconds left to send the teams to the locker rooms in a 41-41 tie. Holt sank the first shot in the third, but from there the two squads would trade baskets and exchange the lead six times. Tulsa's shot percentage dropped in the third quarter, as they hit just 6 of 18 shots from the field, including one of three from behind the arc. San Antonio held a 32-21 advantage in rebounds as they headed into the final quarter with a seven point lead. The Silver Stars would expand their lead to as many as 13 points before the Shock's Kara Braxton single-handedly pulled them back into the contest. Braxton scored 15 of Tulsa's 20 points in the fourth quarter, as the squad once again tried to close the gap in the waining moments for the second straight game. Tulsa closed to within five points with just under a minute left, but that would be as close as they would get as San Antonio walked out of the BOK Center with their first win of the season. The Shock succeeded in limiting their turnovers, as they turned the ball over 10 times on the day while the Silver Stars were credited with 18. San Antonio out-shot Tulsa 51.7 percent to 41.3 percent while hitting nine of 19 three-pointers. The Shock hit just three of 15 treys while being out-rebounded 41-31 by the Silver Stars. Next up for the Shock is a 6 p.m. game at Minnesota on Sunday. Tulsa then returns home for nationally televised (ESPN2) game against the defending champion Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
1
2
3
4
F
San Antonio
28
13
20
22
83
Tulsa
23
18
13
20
74
San Antonio - Young 23, Lawson-Wade 16, Snow 13, Hammon 12, Frazee 7, Snell 6, Hodges 3, Darling 3. Tulsa - Braxton 15, Holt 11, Robinson 10, Crossley 9, Hornbuckle 9, Black 8, Pierson 8, Jones 2, Lacy 2. Officials: Sue Blauch, Tony Dawkins, James Williams. Time of game: 2:04. Attendance: 4,636.