Fever-Silver Stars Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Sep 06 2012 9:13PM

The San Antonio Silver Stars posted an impressive comeback win over the Indiana Fever earlier this season.

San Antonio, though, seems to be lacking that kind of intensity recently.

Trying to avoid a fourth straight loss, the Silver Stars host the Fever on Friday night in a matchup of playoff-bound teams.

After winning a franchise-record 12 straight, San Antonio has lost four of five. The Silver Stars (17-9), who are one game behind second-place Los Angeles in the Western Conference, fell 94-90 at Phoenix on Saturday despite a career-high 32 points from Sophia Young.

They were outscored 28-14 in the second period and allowed the Mercury to connect on 10 of 28 shots from 3-point range.

A lax effort on defense has been a big reason for San Antonio's slump. The Silver Stars are giving up 89.2 points per game over their last five contests, which is 12.0 more than their season average and 16.0 more than they allowed during their winning streak.

Struggles by Becky Hammon are another source of San Antonio's problems. Hammon is second on the team with 15.2 points per game but has been held to 9.8 over the last five. She didn't record a field goal until late in the third quarter Saturday before finishing with 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.

San Antonio posted a stunning 88-72 win over Indiana (17-9) on July 5, coming back from an 18-point deficit while outscoring the Fever 63-29 over the final 21:13.

The 34-point swing was the second-largest by an Indiana opponent in franchise history.

While not on the same level, the Fever also couldn't protect a lead their last time out as they had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 71-64 loss at Atlanta on Wednesday.

Katie Douglas scored 23 points but committed six of her team's 17 turnovers as Indiana fell 2 1/2 games behind Connecticut for first place in the East.

The Fever led 32-21 late in the second quarter before the Dream went on an 8-0 run prior to the break - helped by two Indiana turnovers and a blocked shot - and were then able to carry the momentum into the second half.

"We expected Atlanta to come out and play at a high level since they are dealing with adversity, and fighting for their playoff lives," coach Lin Dunn said. "I thought Atlanta was real aggressive and real physical, and we handled it poorly."

The Fever will look to hand San Antonio, which is 9-2 at home, its first four-game losing streak since a six-game skid in August 2011.

Catchings leads Fever past Silver Stars, 82-78

Posted Sep 07 2012 11:32PM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Tamika Catchings had 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Indiana Fever to an 82-78 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars on Friday night.

Katie Douglas added 18 points, Briann January had 12 and Shavonte Zellous 11 for the Fever (18-9), who moved 1 1/2 games behind first-place Connecticut in the Eastern Conference. Indiana handed San Antonio its second straight home loss after winning its previous nine at the AT&T Center.

``We're excited to a steal a win,'' Douglas said. ``San Antonio is a great team and they play great on their home court, so I feel like we came in a stole one. We just feel fortunate to get out of here with a win.''

Becky Hammon had 15 points to lead San Antonio (17-10). Shameka Christon, Sophia Young and Jia Perkins each had 13 points.

The Silver Stars led throughout much of the game, but were outscored 22-13 in the final 6 minutes.

The Fever made all 15 of their free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to rally from a five-point deficit. The Silver Stars took only three free throws in the quarter, with Perkins missing the second of three after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Indiana had only taken six free throws through three quarters - making all but one - before forcing the action in the fourth.

Catchings scored eight points in the fourth, going 2 for 3 from the field and 3 for 3 on free throws.

``When we got them in early foul trouble and were in the bonus, the plan was attack and don't settle,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said. ``I thought Catchings did a super job of putting her head down and just attacking the rim right down the middle.''

Indiana held a 12-7 rebounding advantage in the fourth, but San Antonio dominated early.

Offensive rebounding enabled the Silver Stars to maintain their lead in the opening minutes. Jayne Appel scored off an offensive board for a 61-58 lead and Young followed her own miss for a 65-60 lead with 6:11 remaining.

Douglas made two straight 3-pointers in the final quarter after missing her first three attempts of the game. Her first 3 cut the deficit to 65-63, but Hammon responded with an up-and-under layup after faking Catchings in the paint. Douglas' second 3 gave the Fever a 71-68 advantage - their first since they were up 11-8.

``I'm a shooter, I feel like every shot is going to go in,'' Douglas said. ``The first three, I don't know, maybe I rushed them a little bit, but the second two definitely felt good. (January) did a good job finding me and I was able to knock them down and get the team over the hump.''

Perkins hit a 3 to give the Stars a one-point lead, but Catchings hit a 3-pointer and Erlana Larkins made a pair of free throws for a 76-72 advantage.

Perkins' free throws pulled the Silver Stars within 78-76 with 57.7 seconds left, but Catchings and Larkins each made a pair of free throws to preserve the victory.

``It was two halves,'' San Antonio coach Dan Hughes said. ``The first half I felt offensively we scored well. Then in the second half there was a lot more defense involved. They're a good team. We were just a couple plays short.''

There were five ties in the first 4 minutes of the game before the Silver Stars used their 3-point shooting to take command.

Catchings hit a 3 that gave the Fever their 11-8 lead with 6:46 left in the first, but Christon responded with her own 3 about 30 seconds later to tie the game. Christon then made two more 3s over the next 90 seconds to give San Antonio at 19-15 lead.

The Silver Stars made three free throws to take a 36-23 lead after Jeanette Pohlen was assessed a technical for arguing a foul on Christon. Official Denise Brooks told Dunn that Pohlen ``waved her off'' after she told the Indiana guard to stop arguing about the call.

San Antonio led by double digits throughout much of the second quarter, building its advantage to 14 points before Indiana rallied. The Fever closed the half on a 9-0 run, including a 3 by Zellous that pulled them to 42-35.

Douglas missed a 3 that would have tied the game in the final seconds of the third quarter. The Silver Stars took advantage of the miss, scoring on a fastbreak layup by Perkins with 0.7 seconds left for a 59-54 lead.

``I thought we started off the game really well,'' Young said. ``Coach (Hughes) thought we did extremely well, and we did some stuff in the second quarter that took us away from what we were doing well.''

• Fever: --
• Silver Stars: --

• Fever: Pohlen
• Silver Stars: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #9 Denise Brooks, #21 Byron Jarrett, #45 Tom Mauer
• Attendance: 8097
• Duration: 1:58