After a slow start the San Antonio Silver Stars built a nine-point lead in the second half, but fell short in the end at America West Arena Wednesday night.
Early in the second half, the Silver Stars scored sixteen straight points (8 by Marie Ferdinand). But then the Phoenix Mercury defense, led by new addition Stacey Thomas, clamped down. Ferdinand did not score in the final eight minutes of the contest.
"They had a sense of urgency," Silver Stars coach Candi Harvey said. "We knew they were a hungry team. We talked about matching their intensity, and I just don't think we did."
Down by one, the Silver Stars had a chance to win the game when the Mercury missed a shot with 10 seconds remaining and San Antonio's Gwen Jackson grabbed the rebound. But on the last possession of the game, Adrienne Goodson missed a three-pointer in the waning seconds and the Silver Stars fell 51-50.
Neither team shot well all night. The Silver Stars shot 37.0% from the field and the Mercury shot a mere 34.4%. The much smaller Mercury outrebounded the Silver Stars 37-33, with Adrian Williams pulling down 16, a Phoenix franchise record.
Williams led the Mercury with 14 points to go along with her 16 rebounds. Thomas, most recently with the Portland, was signed by the Mercury on Tuesday. In addition to her tenacious defense, Thomas tallied 9 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.
For the Silver Stars, Ferdinand led the way with 15 points. Forward Sylvia Crawley contributed 12 points and 8 rebounds. Also in double figures was rookie reserve Gwen Jackson with 11 points. Adrienne Goodson took a shot to the temple in the second half and had to leave the game to stop the bleeding.
The Silver Stars next game is Friday night against Minnesota at 7:30pm at the SBC Center.
