Silver Stars - Phoenix game notes

July 5, 2005 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
San Antonio Stars News Release


PHOENIX MERCURY- - With the win tonight, Phoenix ended a five game losing streak and won its fifth consecutive game against San Antonio

- Phoenix improved their record to 3-0 when leading at halftime

- The Mercury held the Silver Stars to a opponent season-low four offensive rebounds outrebounding San Antonio 41-23 and outscoring them in second chance points 21-3

- Penny Taylor led Phoenix with 21 points (8-11 fg, 2-5 3fg, 3-4 ft), seven rebounds, a seven assists, three steals and one blocked shot in 36 minutes of play

- Kamila Vodichkova recorded her first double-double with 13 points (5-13 fg, 3-3 ft), a game-high 14 rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot in 36 minutes for the Mercury.

- Diana Taurasi had a game-high eight assists, 11 points, five rebounds and one steal in 31 minutes of action for Phoenix

SILVER STARS - - With three players scoring in double digits and nine players scoring total, the Silver Stars continue to spread the scoring wealth making it the seventh time three players have scored in double figures and the fourth time at least nine players have contributed in scoring through 18 games

- The Silver Stars' bench outscored the Mercury's bench 21-14 making it the eleventh time the team has outscored their opponent's bench this season...San Antonio's bench it currently averaging 19.0 points per game while its opponent's reserves are averaging 16.2 points per game

- Wendy Palmer-Daniel scored a team-high 17 points making it the third consecutive game she has scored in double figures

- Dalma Ivanyi continued her hot shooting from three-point land knocking down two of her five three-point attempts...she also pitched in a team-high five rebounds

- Shannon Johnson finished the evening with 11 points, three rebounds, two steals and a team-high four assists...with her two three-pointers tonight she continues her streak of hitting at least one three in her last five games...during the last four games she is averaging 14.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.0 steals in 34.4 minutes while shooting 58.1 percent (18-31) from the field, 46.2 percent (6-13) from three-point range and 81.3 percent (13-16)

- With her 11 points tonight, Shannon Johnson currently sits at 2,498 career points...with her next basket she will become just the 21st player in league history to eclipse the 2,500 point plateau.

Phoenix's next game: The Mercury will turn around and host the Seattle Storm tomorrow night, July 6, at America West Arena at 9:00 pm CST.

San Antonio's next game: The Silver Stars will travel to Sacramento to play the Monarch at the Arco Arena on Thursday July 14 at 1:30 pm CST.

SILVER STARS QUOTES

Silver Stars Head Coach Dan Hughes

"Give Phoenix credit, they deserved to win. We didn't start the game well. We had no defensive attitude. We were in a deficit and spent the game playing catch-up. They (Phoenix) are an incredibly talented team. We came out soft and let them get going. They set the tone early."

(On Penny Taylor)

"Penny Taylor played well. I coached her in Cleveland, so I know what she can do. When she had the ball she was scoring and she distributed it well."

"They (Phoenix) were coming off a tough loss to L.A. They're a talented group. When they put their mind to it, they're a good basketball team. Tonight, they had their mind to it."

Forward Wendy Palmer-Daniel

"We didn't come out with a sense of urgency. We have to come out every night and play hard from the start. That's something we need to focus on the second half of the season."

"Give credit to Phoenix, they played hard. Not to take anything away from them, but they got all the boards and we weren't getting any stops down the stretch. Penny Taylor had a great night and the rest of the team played off her."

Guard Marie Ferdinand

"Phoenix came out and set the tone. They played 40 minutes of hard team basketball. They're a really good team. They're record doesn't show it."

"They had fifteen offensive rebounds. We had no energy from the start and I don't know why. We need to come out and play hard. Teams sometimes have games like this. We let one slip away, but give Phoenix credit."

MERCURY QUOTES

Mercury Head Coach Carrie Graf

"We came out with high energy, rebounded well, did the things that we needed to. Rebounding allowed us to score 21 second-chance points and that set the tone early. We did a great job on Marie Ferdinand. We played as a team tonight."

(On closing it out) "That's just character. We made plays, stuck to the game plan, and played with high intensity. We know that we needed to crash the boards, grab the loose balls and hang tough all game. If we didn't do that, we weren't going to win. We handled the adversity well tonight. This was a good win for us."

Mercury Guard Penny Taylor

"We played hard tonight. It's a good feeling. Coach tested us to come out and play with high energy. We did that and it turned the game in our favor. When San Antonio came back we were able to stick with it and hold our own."

Mercury Guard Diana Taurasi

"It's pretty much self-explained after you lose five or six games in a row. We needed to get a win before the All-Star break and before we started the second half of the season. We did a great job in the final four minutes. We played poised, Penny hit some big shots down the stretch and we were great on the boards. We played as a team."

Mercury Forward Kamila Vodichkova

"The last few games we lost and didn't rebound very well. Tonight we made it our focus to come out and crash the boards as hard as we could. We did a great job on Marie Ferdinand by holding her to zero points in the first half. We started with high energy and focused on our game when they started to come back."



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 5, 2005


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