Thursday, October 2, 2008– On Wednesday night, the finals of the WNBA began with the San Antonio Silver Stars facing the Detroit Shock in the best of a 3-out-of-5 game series.
The San Antonio Silver Stars should have had home court advantage, as they’d lost only one game at home all season, but it didn’t matter this time, the Shock defeated them by eight points - 77-69.
The Silver Stars scored 18 points in the first quarter, three more than the Shock. However, the Shock turned it on in the second quarter, scoring 27 points and keeping the Silver Stocks to a measly 14 points.
The Silver Stars scored 17 points in the third quarter, but so did the Shock. And in the fourth quarter, the Silver Stars were able to only out-score the Shock by two points, 20 to 18.
For the Shock, Katie Smith led the way with 25 points on 8-17 shooting, and grabbing 9 rebounds. Taj McWilliams-Franklin> was close behind her, with 24 points, but on more efficient shooting - 11-16. She also grabbed five rebounds.
Deanna Nolan, the Shock player who leads the team in scoring, was held to only 10 points (on 5-16 shooting) but she had four assists.
For the Silver Stars, Sophia Young was high scorer with 21 points…but she was only 8-21 shooting. She did pull down 9 rebounds, however, and dish out 4 assists.
Center Ann Wauters was next high scorer, with 16 points, and 7 rebounds. She also had 3 blocked shots. Becky Hammon also had a poor shooting night 4-10 shooting for 13 points, and she handed out 5 assists.
Candace Parker, Rookie of the Year in the WNBA, wasn’t able to bring her team, the Los Angeles Sparks, to the WNBA finals, as they lost to the San Antonio Silver Stars, but fellow Lady Vol rookie Alexis Hornbuckle is in the post-season. Alexis is a defensive presence for the Shock, with only 4 points but 3 steals, 5 assists (team high) and 2 blocked shots.
Game Two will be held on Friday night at 7.30 pm eastern, once again in San Antonio.
