Silver Stars-Fever Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Jun 02 2010 2:54PM

Coming off two home losses, the best thing for the San Antonio Silver Stars might be to hit the road. They will certainly be doing a lot of that over the next six weeks.

The Silver Stars, who play nine of their next 12 away from the AT&T Center, look to rebound from an ugly defeat when they face the Indiana Fever on Thursday night.

San Antonio (2-3) shot a season-low 32.7 percent in suffering its second consecutive home loss Sunday, 84-56 to Seattle. The defeat was the second-most lopsided for the franchise since it relocated to Texas following the 2002 season.

"They fought hard, but we were just outplayed in every aspect of the game," coach Sandy Brondello said.

With her team looking to avoid its first three-game slide since dropping four straight Aug. 20-27, Brondello won't be on the sidelines after giving birth to a girl Monday. Brondello's husband, associate head coach Olaf Lange, and general manager Dan Hughes, who coached the Silver Stars the past five seasons, will run the team Thursday and Sunday against Connecticut.

The Silver Stars will likely need a better effort from leading scorers Chamique Holdsclaw, Sophia Young and Becky Hammon if they are going to start their trip on a positive note. Each player came in averaging more than 13 points, but the trio managed 21 and took only 18 shots Sunday.

Indiana (2-3) is looking to bounce back from a 79-74 loss to Tulsa on Saturday. With a chance to win three in a row following an 0-2 start, the Fever shot 41.5 percent from the field in their first visit to the BOK Center.

"We did not hit enough open shots,'' coach Lin Dunn said. "We could have easily come in here and stolen the game in their gym. We just didn't do what we needed to do.''

Tamika Catchings had 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but the five-time All-Star shot 4 of 13 from the floor. She leads Indiana with 17.2 points per game.

Catchings had 20 points and eight boards as Indiana won 77-66 in San Antonio's last visit to Conseco Fieldhouse on Aug. 27. The Fever, though, suffered their most lopsided defeat last season at San Antonio, 84-65 on July 23.

The Silver Stars lead the all-time series 10-8.

Douglas leads Fever past Silver Stars, 79-57

By CLIFF BRUNT
Posted Jun 03 2010 9:20PM

INDIANAPOLIS(AP) Katie Douglas scored 22 points to help the Indiana Fever beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 79-57 on Thursday night.

Douglas had been struggling with her shot, but the 2009 All-Star went 9 for 12 from the field. Tamika Catchings had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Fever, who have won 3 of 4 after losing back to back games to start the season.

Chamique Holdsclaw led San Antonio with 12 points and Sophia Young added 11. The Silver Stars were without All-Star guard Becky Hammon, who sat out with a strained right quad, and coach Sandy Brondello, who gave birth to her second child on Monday.

Indiana's Briann January sat out with a sprained medial collateral ligament in her right knee.

The Fever outrebounded the Silver Stars 38-27 and held them to 35 percent shooting. Indiana's reserves outscored their San Antonio counterparts 33-15.

It was San Antonio's third straight loss, and second straight blowout. The Silver Stars were coming off an 84-56 home loss to Seattle.

Indiana led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter, then opened the second on a 7-0 run with mostly reserves on the floor.

The Fever continued to roll and led 37-23 at halftime. Indiana ended the first half on a perfect long lead pass from Douglas to a streaking Jene Morris, who scored a layup with 1 second left.

Douglas found her stroke in the third quarter, scoring nine points on 4-for-4 shooting to spark a 29-point period. Indiana led 66-40 at the end of the third.

• Silver Stars: --
• Fever: --

• Silver Stars: --
• Fever: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #8 Daryl Humphrey, #17 Scott Twardoski, #24 Tony Dawkins
• Attendance: 7574
• Duration: 1:53