Mercury-Silver Stars Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted May 31 2012 11:32PM

The Phoenix Mercury have lost by an average of 19.0 points without Diana Taurasi, and it doesn't appear as if the superstar will be joining her team anytime soon.

Taurasi likely won't be on the court Friday night when the Mercury visit the San Antonio Silver Stars.

Phoenix (1-3) opened its two-game road swing with an 81-65 loss at Atlanta on Thursday, as it played without the league's defending scoring champion and 2009 MVP for the second time this season. Taurasi, who is out indefinitely with a strained left hip flexor, did not travel with the team.

Mercury coach Corey Gaines said losing Taurasi was like an NBA team losing Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan or LeBron James. He also said has "no idea" when Taurasi can return.

"Well, you know I think Diana is one of the top players in the world,'' Gaines said. "Let's put her in the top five."

The Mercury were also routed without Taurasi in their season opener May 20, losing 105-83 at Minnesota. DeWanna Bonner has scored 22 points in each of the games Taurasi has been out.

San Antonio (1-2) likely won't have much sympathy after falling 77-63 in its home opener to Chicago on Wednesday. Becky Hammon made 8 of 11 shots from the field and finished with a team-high 21 points, but the rest of the Silver Stars combined to shoot 31.5 percent.

"I think they had a good defensive plan but we just struggled," said guard Jia Perkins, who shot 3 of 11 and finished with eight points. "It was one of them nights we couldn't hit a shot so it's frustrating but the good thing is we have a game Friday so hopefully we can redeem ourselves."

Shameka Christon also had a miserable night, missing all seven of her field-goal attempts - six of them 3-pointers - after averaging 15.0 points in her first two games with San Antonio.

Three-time All-Star forward Sophia Young vowed to show improvement after turning in her second straight nine-point performance.

"We didn't get to the line very much (Wednesday)," Young said. "I only got to the line one time and that's something that I have to pick up. I think I'm going to take responsibility for this game tonight for my team because I don't think I was aggressive."

Hammon leads the league with 7.3 assists per game, but had a season-low five to go with a season-worst six turnovers against the Sky.

"I think we've just got to get more movement," Perkins said. "We don't want to make excuses but we just have to learn each other and learn from this."

San Antonio won three of five meetings with Phoenix last season.

Hammon leads Silver Stars past Mercury 85-66

Posted Jun 01 2012 11:36PM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Becky Hammon paid the price for her big night.

Hammon made of 7 of 9 3-pointers while scoring 30 points, leading the Silver Stars to an 85-66 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night. She sparked a sharp-shooting performance by San Antonio, which hit 53 percent from 3-point range and 46 percent from the field. She made 9 of 14 shots from the field in setting her season high for points.

San Antonio's first home victory helped Hammon ease the sting of bruises. She had ice packs on her lower back, hips and knees, and both feet immersed in a bucket of ice water after the game.

``I'm a little banged up right now,'' she said, smiling through a swollen lip suffered during Wednesday's loss to Chicago.

Her pain equaled the hurting the 35-year-old guard put on Phoenix.

``Becky has still got it,'' Mercury coach Corey Gaines said. ``She may be a little long in the tooth, but she can still go.''

Hammon opened the game by hitting consecutive 3-pointers to set an up-tempo tone.

``I just took the shots that I thought were available,'' she said. ``I didn't want to force anything.

``I came off some handoffs and stuff, so I knew I'd have a second to get a clean look. (The shots) fell. When you start feeling good, you start getting a lot more comfortable taking those shots.''

San Antonio (2-2) took advantage of a Phoenix team playing the second night of a back-to-back series. The Silver Stars scored 30 fast-break points and forced 21 turnovers.

Candice Dupree and Nakia Sanford each scored 17 points to lead the Mercury (1-4), and Samantha Prahalis had 11.

The Silver Stars scored a season-high 44 points in the first half, shooting 47 percent to open the game.

San Antonio post player Jayne Appel had a big hand in the early surge. Appel finished with 11 rebounds - all on the defensive end - one blocked shot and seven points in her first start of the season.

``(Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes) talked to me a lot about just being an effort player,'' Appel said. ``Having a blue-collar worker and just bring a lot of energy whenever you're in the game whether it's 10 minutes or however long it is. Just coming in and being a spark.''

The Silvers Stars extended their lead to 20 points in the third quarter as Sophia Young took over offensively while Hammon sat. Young scored eight points in the period, including six of the team's final eight points of the quarter.

``Becky and I are both leaders for this team,'' Young said. ``Whenever one of us is out, we expect the other one to pick up the slack. We do have confidence in each other to know that we're going to do that.''

Young finished with 16 points and Jia Perkins added 12. Danielle Robinson led the team with a game-high 11 assists.

NOTES: Silver Stars center Tangela Smith is sidelined indefinitely after undergoing arthroscopic surgery Thursday on her left knee. Acquired in the offseason in a trade with the Indiana Fever, Smith had been favoring the knee noticeably prior to the surgery. She played less than 10 minutes combined in the Silver Stars' opening two games before sitting out the team's home opener Wednesday. . . . WNBA president Laurel Ritchie was in attendance for Friday's game, helping the Silver Stars celebrate their 10th anniversary as a franchise in San Antonio.

• Mercury: --
• Silver Stars: --

• Mercury: --
• Silver Stars: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #8 Daryl Humphrey, #34 Maj Forsberg
• Attendance: 6534
• Duration: 1:51