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Young takes charge, leads Silver Stars to West finals

Sep 23, 2008 - 4:56 AM SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Silver Stars wouldn't allow themselves another letdown.

After failing to close out them at home over the weekend, the Silver Stars recovered on Monday night and survived a furious rally by the Sacramento Monarchs to advance to the Western Conference finals with an 86-81 overtime victory.

This is the second straight season San Antonio has made it to the conference title round after losing to the Phoenix Mercury in two games last season.

To get there, the Silver Stars had to withstand a huge momentum shift down the stretch.

The Monarchs scored the last seven points of regulation to send the game into overtime, but Sophia Young's gritty play propelled the top-seeded Silver Stars to victory. Young scored seven of her 27 points in the extra period - all from the foul line - and grabbed a pivotal defensive board to help seal it.

With San Antonio clinging to a three-point lead with 2:17 to play, Ticha Penicheiro misfired on a jumper and Young fought for a tough rebound, drawing a foul in the process. She hit both foul shots to make it 76-71 as the Silver Stars began to put the Monarchs away.

The All-Star forward finished with 27 points on 8-of-16 from the floor and 11-of-13 from the free-throw line.

The Silver Stars took the first game of the series in Sacramento but returned home on Saturday night with a lethargic Game Two effort, falling 84-67 on their home court. They rebounded on Monday, but it wasn't without a fight.

Even after falling behind by as many as 14 points, the Monarchs wouldn't go away, scoring seven points in a row late in the fourth to tie the game and send it into an extra period.

With less than 90 seconds on the clock, Nicole Powell knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut her team's deficit to 69-65. Moments later, Penicheiro took advantage of a momentary lapse in concentration on San Antonio's part, stealing the inbounds pass and dropping in a layup to make it a two-point game.

With just eight seconds to play , Powell came up big once again, taking Becky Hammon off the dribble and pulling up for the tying jumper. The Silver Stars had the final possession of regulation, but Hammon's runner in the middle of the lane clanked off the front of the rim.

But the Monarchs couldn't repeat the feat in the overtime period, as they missed out on what would have been their sixth conference final appearance in eight years.

Powell led Sacramento with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, while Kara Lawson added 12 points and seven assists. San Antonio center Ann Wauters had 15 points and 12 boards.