Silver Stars-Fever Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Jul 04 2012 1:47PM

After wrapping up a road trip in positive fashion, the Indiana Fever are hoping to carry that momentum into a lengthy homestand but have to start it against the league's hottest team.

The San Antonio Silver Stars go for their longest winning streak in nearly four years Thursday night, trying to capture a fifth consecutive victory while ending a three-game slide in Indiana.

The Fever (8-5) have been idle since last Wednesday, when they finished 2-1 on their road swing with an 81-72 win over Chicago. Behind Shavonte Zeallous' season-high 18 points, Indiana earned that victory a day after losing 70-58 in Atlanta.

"We showed we can be a real tough-minded team that's going to be difficult to deal with when it comes playoff time. I like that," coach Lin Dunn told the team's website.

The Fever's next six games - four before the Olympic break - will be at home, where they are 4-1. No team has played fewer home games.

San Antonio hasn't won in Indiana since June 15, 2008, and was swept in last season's two-game series. However, the Silver Stars (8-5) enter this matchup having won four straight and six of seven.

Danielle Adams scored a season-high 24 points off the bench and Becky Hammon added 22 in an 82-81 victory over Phoenix on Tuesday as San Antonio overcame shooting a season-worst 34.6 percent.

"If we're going to be a good team, we've got to find ways (to win) in these games," coach Dan Hughes said. "We have to find a way to win when the ball is not going in the basket and we did today."

Hughes' club will next try to secure the franchise's first five-game win streak since a run of six straight victories Sept. 5-18, 2008, which included the opening game of the playoffs.

Tamika Catchings led the Fever in scoring in both matchups with the Silver Stars last season, averaging 23.5 points. She's been slumping of late, averaging 13.6 points over the last seven games while shooting 31.2 percent - 3 for 15 in her most recent outing.

Indiana fans are expected to get their first look at Karima Christmas, acquired Monday in a deal that sent veteran Roneeka Hodges to the Tulsa Shock.

San Antonio guard Tully Bevilaqua, who played six of her 14 WNBA seasons with the Fever, is slated to appear in Indiana for the first time since announcing Tuesday that she'll retire at the end of the season.

Hammon scores 19 to lead Silver Stars past Fever

Posted Jul 05 2012 10:27PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The second half was all the San Antonio Silver Stars needed.

After a strong first half by Indiana, San Antonio picked up its defense and got better transition play to rally for an 88-72 win over the Fever on Thursday night.

Becky Hammon scored 19 points, Jia Perkins had 17 points and Sophia Young added 15 points and eight rebounds to help the Silver Stars (9-5) win their fifth straight.

``A little bit of grind and more assertiveness in the second half is what helped,'' Hammon said. ``They came out in the first half red hot and we knew we had to work hard on defense to give ourselves a chance. We knew the offense would come.''

San Antonio came from 18 points down for and finished with the second-largest turnaround (34 points) by a Fever opponent in franchise history. The Charlotte Sting had a 43-point swing in a win against Indiana on Aug. 20, 2003.

``I thought in the second half we started assertively,'' San Antonio coach Dan Hughes said. ``Defensively we were early in what we wanted to do. We were a step behind in the second half and we were able to play out of our defense. Our bench was very productive. We got 35 points off the bench. It allowed us a kind of consistency at that point.''

Katie Douglas scored 19 points for the Fever (8-6), who made 12 3-pointers. Tamika Catchings, set for her third trip to the Olympics, had 17 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for her 75th career double-double.

After Catchings' jumper pushed the Fever's lead to 45-32 with 8:13 remaining in the third, the Silver Stars scored the next eight points to pull within five midway through the period.

Jia Perkins' 3 capped an 8-2 run that got San Antonio to 54-53 with about 1 1/2 minutes left in the third, and Danielle Adams jumper 20 seconds into the fourth tied the score at 59-all. Young's layup about a minute later put the Silver Stars ahead and they didn't trail again.

``Very disapointed with our lack of intensity in the second half,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said. ``The way we started the second half let them back in the game. San Antonio is a very good team. We did not match their intensity.''

After Briann January's two free throws tied the score, Adams' hit a jumper with 8:03 to go to put San Antonio ahead for good. Perkins hit a jumper and Shenise Johnson made a 3 to cap a 13-2 run that put the Silver Stars ahead 68-61 with 7:20 remaining.

Danielle Robinson's jumper 4 minutes later made it a double-digit game, and San Antonio scored the last six points in the final 57 seconds as the final score was their largest margin of the game.

``We came out the first 20 minutes and played really well,'' Douglas said. ``Then we were flat for some reason. Whatever it was in the third quarter, they were knocking down shots. We put our heads down and then we looked a little rattled out there and didn't hold our composure.''

After going on a 15-2 run in the first quarter to take a 23-11 lead, the Fever pulled away further in the second quarter and did it from behind the arc.

Pohlen, Catchings, and Douglas each hit 3's on the next three possessions and held the Silver Stars scoreless to take a 32-20 lead midway through the quarter.

January made two 3s and Douglas had one as Indiana scored nine consecutive points to take a 41-23 lead with 3:20 to go in the second quarter. Robinson hit a jumper and Shameka Christon made a free throw to pull San Antonio to 43-28 at halftime.

``Indiana totally dominated us for a half,'' Hughes said. ``We just didn't feel like we had any rhythm. We started getting rhythm, especially out of our defensive play, in the second half.''

• Silver Stars: --
• Fever: --

• Silver Stars: --
• Fever: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #38 Lamont Simpson, #44 Felicia Grinter, #22 Tyler Ford
• Attendance: 6088
• Duration: 1:49