Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Silver Stars and Ticha Penicheiro of the Sacramento Monarchs are two of the top playmakers in the WNBA, ranking in the league's top 10 in assists. In their last games, however, both point guards led their teams to victory by looking for their own shots.

Coming off clutch scoring performances, Hammon and Penicheiro go head-to-head on Thursday night when the Silver Stars host the Monarchs in search of their ninth win in 10 games at the AT&T Center.

Hammon, sixth in the league in assists with 4.9 per game, had six on Tuesday night. She was even more dangerous when she wasn't setting up her teammates, scoring 10 of her 19 points in overtime as San Antonio (10-6) beat Detroit 79-72.

"Eventually, you just keep being aggressive and eventually it'll come around to you and reward you," Hammon said. "That's just what we kept trying to do, keep playing aggressive in overtime and not get timid."

That victory was the eighth in nine home games for the Silver Stars, whose lone loss at the AT&T Center was an 82-81 overtime defeat against Houston last Tuesday.

San Antonio will try to continue its dominance at home as it meets Sacramento (8-8), which used a strong performance from Penicheiro on Tuesday night to climb back to .500.

The 11th-year veteran, who ranks first in league history with 1,930 career assists and fifth this season with 5.3 per game, matched a season high with eight assists Tuesday. With the defense expecting her to pass, Penicheiro made back-to-back field goals in the final 1:30 to lead Sacramento to an 87-81 victory over Washington.

"I wasn't really looking for my shot (early), but something developed, I read it and tried to be aggressive," said Penicheiro, who was 5-for-7 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line for 17 points. "A lot of teams still play me to pass the ball when I drive, but I'll shoot it."

The Monarchs, averaging 78.5 points in their wins and 68.0 in their losses, are 4-0 when they score at least 80 points.

"When we play this well, especially offensively, we're tough to beat," Penicheiro said.

With the offense clicking, Sacramento has won back-to-back games after dropping four of its previous five. Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek, however, is less concerned with wins and losses than she is with quality of play.

"I don't care about the record," she said. "I just care about how we are playing and how we are progressing. We are moving in the right direction."

Sacramento won its season opener over San Antonio 73-64 on May 17. Penicheiro had six points and seven assists while going 1-for-8 from the field, while Hammon had 11 points and a season low-tying one assist while shooting 4-for-19.