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Liberty-Silver Stars Preview

May 27, 2010 - 6:45 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

New York (1-2) at San Antonio (2-1), 8:00 p.m. EDT

After relying on perennial All-Stars Becky Hammon and Sophia Young for years, the San Antonio Silver Stars finally have another scoring threat.

Chamique Holdsclaw looks to build on an impressive season debut and help the Silver Stars win their third straight game when they host the struggling New York Liberty on Friday night.

Hammon and Young led San Antonio (2-1) to the playoffs for a third consecutive season in 2009, but the duo couldn't get the Silver Stars past eventual champion Phoenix in the first round.

San Antonio has been in need of somebody to step up and take some of the pressure off Hammon and Young, and it may have done so with last Friday's acquisition of Holdsclaw after she was waived by Atlanta on May 19.

Holdsclaw, a six-time All-Star, hadn't reported to the Dream and had requested a trade.

"It changes everything because it makes our job so much easier," Hammon said after an 88-81 win over Los Angeles on Saturday. "Now, you don't know who is going to get it and make a play, because we have so many different playmakers."

Holdsclaw made an immediate impact in her San Antonio debut, scoring a team-high 19 points. She also made an acrobatic save of a loose ball late in the fourth quarter that led to a Young layup that put the Silver Stars up by six.

"I've played enough that I understand spacing and execution," said Holdsclaw, who played 31 minutes. "I just went out there and tried to play my game and add another dimension."

Holdsclaw averaged 17.5 points in four games against the Liberty last season.

The Silver Stars won the last three meetings with New York in San Antonio. They split two games against the Liberty in 2009.

Hammon averaged 21.7 points in the last three at the AT&T Center, while Young averaged 19.7 points in those contests.

The Liberty (1-2) open a four-game road trip looking to bounce back from another discouraging defeat.

New York and Atlanta were tied at 67 with 5:53 left Sunday, but the Liberty were outscored 19-10 the rest of the way in an 86-77 loss. That came two days after New York was outscored 16-0 in the final 6 minutes by Washington after tying the score in a 77-61 defeat.

"The first three games we do a great job through three quarters and lately it's been the fourth quarter that's been the death of us," center Janel McCarville said. "We need to buckle down fast and basically man up. If we don't get stops on defense, we're definitely not going to win games.

"We've got the offensive firepower and threats on this team, and we're in a good position but late down the stretch we have to get stops."

New York's Cappie Pondexter, averaging a team-high 19.0 points, scored 22.0 over four games against San Antonio last season while with Phoenix.