Hopefully one day soon the San Antonio Silver Stars won't have to be playing catch-up in the second half.
This has become routine these days -- the Silver Stars let their opponents get out to a double-digit lead in the first half and spend the rest of the game trying to catch-up. Then even if they do close the gap, San Antonio doesn't have enough left in the tank to finish.
On Saturday night, it was the same story. Playing the last place Washington Mystics at SBC Center in front of 11,530 faithful fans, the Mystics built a 13-point first half lead. Meanwhile the Silver Stars missed lay ups and defensive rotations.
In the second stanza, Silver Stars' Semeka Randall came off the bench to rally her down-trodden team to within one point with 7:36 left in the game.
In 16 minutes, Randall scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting and pulled down a season-high seven rebounds, while playing swarming, relentless defense.
"I'm not a superstar in this game. I just know that I play with my heart; it's all I have control over day in and day out," said Randall.
"Energy, passion, fire. She plays like she enjoys the game. She lifts everyone up including the crowd," praised Silver Stars' head coach Candi Harvey. "I have respect for her whether she plays two minutes or twenty."
But in the end, it just wasn't enough. The Mystics outscored the Silver Stars 11-5 over the last 2:27 to secure an 85-77 victory. San Antonio has dropped seven of their last eight games.
Despite dominating the boards with a season-high 19 offensive rebounds that led to 30 second-chance points and owning the paint (50-32), the Silver Stars couldn't make the necessary defensive stops.
"It's all the little things that add up," said point guard Jennifer Azzi, who had a season-high 17 points. " It's not talent or scoring ability; it's things like defensive stops and getting back on defense. It's not that complicated. We're just not getting it done."
Center Margo Dydek scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds for San Antonio. Gwen Jackson scored 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the loss, but the coaching staff was disappointed with some of the other starters.
"I keep saying the same things, but we'll put people on the floor who do what we need them to do," said Harvey. "We're just not good enough for everyone not to show up. I didn't think they (starters Marie Ferdinand and Adrienne Goodson) played hard defensively."
Goodson and Ferdinand sat on the bench while the Silver Stars rallied in the second half. Goodson finished the game with only four points in 16 minutes. Ferdinand, the team's leading scorer, tallied only six points in 26 minutes.
Chamique Holdsclaw led the Mystics with a game-high 24 points, but was stifled for most of the second half. Washington had a season-high 23 assists as they won their third game in a row. The Mystics shot 49.3% from the field in the victory.
Coco Miller scored 18 points and a season-high six assists for Washington. Stacey Dales-Schuman and Murriel Page kicked in 14 points apiece, while reserve Asjha Jones was also in double-digits with 11.
The Silver Stars have two games on the road this week (Indiana and Minnesota) before coming home to play the Cleveland Rockers Sunday July 27 at 6:00 p.m.
