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Silver Stars rout Monarchs to force decisive game

Aug 25, 2007 - 8:21 PM SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Silver Stars made their first playoff game in the state of Texas a victorious one.

Becky Hammon scored 20 points and Marie Ferdinand-Harris added 17 and seven rebounds off the bench as the Silver Stars routed the Sacramento Monarchs, 86-61, to even the best-of-three Western Conference first-round series at one game apiece.

Hammon and Ferdinand combined for 19 points in the second quarter, when the Silver Stars outscored the Monarchs 25-14 to open a 43-25 cushion at the intermission.

"They are a quality team," Hammon said. "This is a game of runs. Our defense is what sparked that (second-quarter run). We're a scrappy team and our defense creates our offense."

The 86 points was a postseason record for San Antonio, which was hosting its first playoff game since the franchise relocated from Utah in 2003.

Both games in the series have been blowouts as Sacramento won the opener at home, 86-65, on Thursday. San Antonio hosts the deciding contest Monday.

"Obviously, it was a different game than Game One," said Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes, whose team overcame 22 turnovers."We did a good job of competing. We had to compete better and we had to take care of the ball better, although I'm not sure we did that. But we did compete better."

Rebekkah Brunson scored 18 points for the Monarchs, who were held to 37 percent (23-of-62) shooting. Nicole Powell was limited to four points after scoring 20 in the opener.

"We came out flat and let them control the tempo of the game throughout," Brunson said. "We weren't where we needed to be on defense."

Sophia Young contributed 12 points for the Silver Stars, who shot 52 percent (33-of-63).