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Monarchs-Silver Stars Preview

Aug 10, 2009 - 7:52 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Sacramento (5-17) at San Antonio (10-11), 8:00 p.m. EDT

The inconsistent San Antonio Silver Stars have won back-to-back games only twice this season. They have a chance to pull off the elusive feat again as they host the WNBA-worst Sacramento Monarchs on Tuesday night.

The reigning Western Conference champions have struggled just to split four games this month. San Antonio rallied from four points down in the final 2:23 to beat Los Angeles 63-59 last Tuesday, and Ann Wauters' buzzer-beater gave the Silver Stars an 89-87 victory at Minnesota on Sunday.

"I did get bumped pretty good, regained the ball and saw Ann was sitting there wide open," guard Becky Hammon said. "We like having Ann Wauters on the court."

A victory Tuesday would push the Silver Stars (10-11) into a tie for third with Minnesota in the West. They beat the Monarchs 62-52 on June 26 at home to give them their first consecutive victories of the season, holding all but one Sacramento player to single digits in points.

San Antonio wasn't nearly as effective defensively July 30 at Arco Arena, as five Monarchs reached double figures in a 101-93 overtime victory. All-Star forward Nicole Powell had 21 points to lead Sacramento.

Hammon scored a career-high 38 in that contest. The league's leading scorer at a career-best 21.2 points per game, she has averaged 26.0 points in her last five contests.

Hammon scored 26 in the first meeting of the year with Sacramento. She averaged 19.3 points against the Monarchs in last season's Western Conference semifinals, won by the San Antonio in three games.

After beating the Silver Stars last month, the Monarchs (5-17) averaged 61.0 points in consecutive home defeats, the most recent an 84-66 loss to New York on Friday night.

Powell was held to four points on 1-of-6 shooting after averaging 20.0 points over her previous five games. Rookie reserve center Courtney Paris scored a career-high 19 points in 19 minutes, while Rebekkah Brunson added 14 points and seven rebounds after missing seven games with a strained right knee.

"It's hard when you keep losing games," veteran guard Kara Lawson said. "But no one here is mailing it in."

The Monarchs have dropped five consecutive regular-season contests in San Antonio, but forced a third game in last year's playoff series with an 84-67 win at the AT&T Center on Sept. 20.