When San Antonio Silver Stars' head coach Candi Harvey was fired seven days ago, the Silver Stars (9-16) had lost six games in a row. Since that time, under interim coach Shell Dailey, the team has been perfect.
Their third consecutive win came against the Houston Comets (14-9) on Friday night at the SBC Center. San Antonio snapped the Comets four-game winning streak with a 63-53 come-from-behind victory in front of 11, 861 faithful.
Down by as many as seven points in the first half, the Silver Stars went into the lockerroom with a 32-31 lead, courtesy of Jennifer Azzi's three-pointer with one second left on the clock.
After the break, San Antonio clamped down on the Comets with their zone defense and limited Sheryl Swoopes to 5-for-15 shooting in the second half.
"Marie (Ferdinand) had her and did a good job with her," said Dailey. "She was up in her shirt. We have been working on defense for the last three days and it paid off."
The Silver Stars attribute their recent turnaround to attitude and execution.
"We are just going out and playing and having fun," said leading scorer Ferdinand. "We are communicating more. We are doing a lot of the little things now. And now we are building off these wins."
"It's teamwork. Working off the ball. Execution. We are playing with more energy and confidence," commented center Margo Dydek.
Ferdinand led San Antonio with 18 points and four steals. The 7-foot-2 Dydek dominated the inside with 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. Adrienne Goodson also tallied a double-double for the Silver Stars with 17 points and 10 boards.
Tina Thompson finished with 16 points for Houston. Swoopes contributed 15.
The Silver Stars play the Comets back-to-back, meeting them Saturday night at the Compaq Center at 7:30pm.
