Sky-Silver Stars Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted May 29 2012 2:23PM

Danielle Adams' promising rookie season with the San Antonio Silver Stars was cut short due to a foot injury. With her healthy, San Antonio hopes to be a contender in the Western Conference.

Coming off an impressive performance, Adams leads the Silver Stars against a fast-starting Sylvia Fowles and the Chicago Sky in San Antonio's home opener Wednesday night.

A second-round draft pick in 2011, Adams was a steady contributor off the bench for the Silver Stars (1-1) last year as she averaged 12.4 points and 4.3 rebounds, with 15 blocks in 23 games, despite missing 11 contests due to a foot injury.

She has moved into a starting role this season and turned in a big effort in the last game, scoring 21 points and making 4 of 8 from 3-point range in an 83-79 loss to undefeated Connecticut on Friday.

Adams was one of the few Silver Stars not to struggle offensively, going 7 of 14 from the field while the rest of the team shot 34.6 percent.

"We just didn't shoot it (well)," said guard Becky Hammon, who scored 11 points and was 3 of 8 from the floor. "You can't shoot 38 percent on the road and expect to beat people on their home court."

After splitting its first two games on the road, San Antonio will play its next two at home. The Silver Stars went 9-8 at the AT&T Center last season for the second-worst home mark in the West.

One of those eight losses came Aug. 14 by an 85-73 score to Chicago (1-1), which fell 83-72 to Indiana on Friday in its home opener. Sylvia Fowles scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half and finished with 10 rebounds, but the Sky couldn't overcome 24 turnovers. They had 21 in a 69-57 win over Washington on May 19.

Despite the lack of ball security, Fowles is pleased with the direction the team is headed after Chicago went 14-20 last season and missed the playoffs again. The Sky outrebounded the Fever 37-25 and grabbed 14 offensive boards.

"It's the second game of the season and we have a long way to go," Fowles said. "But I think we're only going to get better from this point. I think this is going to be the turnaround for us."

Fowles had 23 points and 12 rebounds May 19 and was even better at San Antonio on Aug. 14, scoring 28 points to go along with 17 rebounds.

Fowles leads Sky past Silver Stars

Posted May 30 2012 11:36PM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Sylvia Fowles had 23 points and 12 rebounds, helping the Chicago Sky dominate the smaller San Antonio Silver Stars for a 77-63 victory Wednesday night.

The Sky used their height advantage to rally and take control of the game. San Antonio started 6-foot-1 forwards Sophia Young and Danielle Adams against 6-6 Fowles and 6-5 Ruth Riley.

``Fowles is about as good as it gets at that position,'' San Antonio coach Dan Hughes said. ``We had to do things by team concept . . . we weren't strong enough. We just weren't strong enough to do that.''

The Sky outscored the Silver Stars 40-26 in the paint and 13-6 in second-chance points.

Becky Hammon finished with 21 points for San Antonio. Young had nine points and Danielle Robinson added 13.

Epiphanny Prince scored 22 points for the Sky, Swin Cash had 12 and Riley added 10.

Fowles had five straight points off post feeds from Courtney Vandersloot to give Chicago an 11-8 lead they would never relinquish.

``Every time,'' Sky coach Pokey Chatman yelled at Vandersloot. ``Every time. There is no answer for it. They're either going to double team or have play her straight.''

The Silver Stars subbed in 6-4 center Jayne Appel after Fowles was fouled to set up her fifth point. Appel put a temporary end to the Sky's inside dominance, grabbing an offensive rebound immediately after checking in.

``Jayne did an excellent job on that (offensive rebounding),'' Adams said. ``Just doing the little things, (like) hustling for the ball; we've just got to be better on that. It was a lot of little positives we can take

The Silver Stars were held scoreless for nearly five minutes in the second quarter while shooting 27.8 from the field during the period. Appel's layup with 56.5 seconds remaining was San Antonio's first points since Jia Perkins hit a 3-pointer at the 5:53 mark.

Fowles and Riley combined for seven rebounds and two blocked shots in the second quarter.

``Several times I thought offensively we had a chance to gain momentum,'' Hughes said. ``(But Fowles) would get on the glass in a way that would just overpower us. Defensively she's a factor. We didn't get finishes in that area like we would like to.''

• Sky: --
• Silver Stars: --

• Sky: --
• Silver Stars: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #41 Cheryl Flores, #39 Michael Price, #38 Lamont Simpson
• Attendance: 7233
• Duration: 1:50