• Recap
• Bleachers

Hammon, Crossley help Silver Stars hold off Sun

May 24, 2007 - 3:08 AM SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Silver Stars needed newly acquired Becky Hammon to finally end a bad streak vs. the Connecticut Sun.

Hammon scored 17 points and Shanna Crossley added 16 as the Silver Stars exploded to a large lead and held on to defeat the Sun, 74-71 on Wednesday.

Erin Buescher scored 12 points and Sophia Young added 11 and six rebounds for San Antonio (1-1), which won its first game of the season and snapped a five-game losing streak to Connecticut.

Hammon, who had spent her previous eight years with the New York Liberty before being traded to the Silver Stars on April 4, was 4-of-9 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. The 30-year-old made two crucial free throws in the last seconds to hold off the Sun.

San Antonio led by as many as 25 points before Katie Douglas and Asjha Jones helped Connecticut (1-1) make a furious second-half run.

San Antonio led, 49-24, with 5:58 left in the third period. However, Douglas scored 14 of her 21 points in the third to help reduce the Sun's deficit to 53-44 entering the fourth period.

Jones scored nine of her 20 points in the final period to get Connecticut even closer. Reserve Jamie Carey nailed a 22-foot 3-pointer to slice Connecticut's deficit to 72-71 with six seconds remaining, but Hammon nailed two free throws with five ticks on the clock to make it 74-71.

Douglas's 3-point attempt from the right corner bounced off the front of the rim as time expired.

Crossley, who connected on 6-of-10 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, came within two points of her career-high 18 vs. Phoenix on August 12, 2006.

The second-year guard out of Tennessee was known as Shanna Zolman before marrying former Tennessee running back Andrew Crossley in October.

San Antonio shot 48 percent (27-of-56), including 6-of-16 from the arc.

She had all of her points in the second quarter when the Silver Stars built a 39-18 halftime lead. San Antonio opened the game on a 10-2 run as Connecticut had only two points in the first 7:55 of the first period. The Silver Stars led, 17-7, entering the second quarter.

Douglas was 8-of-15 from the field and Jones added nine rebounds for the Sun, who shot 43 percent (27-of-63).

Reserve Erika DeSouza scored 14 points for Connecticut, which lost for just the second time in eight tries vs. San Antonio.