Danielle Robinson scores career-high 36 as San Antonio Silver Stars beat Tulsa Shock 102-94: WNBA
On Sunday night, Danielle Robinson racked up a career-high 36 points, including 20 in the first half as San Antonio Silver Stars beat the WNBA-worse Tulsa Shock 102-94 in overtime at BOK Center.
It was third straight victory for the Silver Stars, who are now just one game behind Phoenix Mercury for the third position in the Western Conference.
Robinson, who led the Oklahoma Sooners to two Final Four appearances, also dished out six assists, grabbed four rebounds and stole the ball twice. The 22-year-old guard was in prime shooting form on the night, hitting 14 for 19 from the field and 8 for 9 from free throw line.
Her performance has hugely raised the stakes for the Silver Stars. If a player like Robinson, who is averaging only 8.2 points per game this season, starts knocking it down like that, the rival teams in the post season are going to have a hard time controlling the Silver Stars defensively.
Jia Perkins added 22 points, connecting on four of her seven attempted three pointers, grabbed five rebounds and stole the ball twice. Danielle Adams came off the bench with 14 points and eight rebounds in the victory.
Andrea Riley led Tulsa with a career-best 20 points on 4 for 7 shooting from three-point range and grabbed six rebounds. However, Riley missed two excellent opportunities to win the game for Tulsa in regulation. The first chance came from the line. but she scored just one of the two free throws. She then found her way into the frontcourt, but did not have many passing options. Therefore, she ended up taking a shot from downtown, which missed the mark.
“I just wanted to take what the defence gave me,” she said. “Unfortunately, it did not go in. As bad as I thought the shot was, you cannot dwell on it. In overtime, they did it; they wanted it more than we did.”
Tulsa’s guard forward Sheryl Swoopes also scored 20 points; pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Tiffany Jackson had 19 points and nine rebounds while Liz Cambage ended with 16 points and two blocks in the sixth consecutive loss for Tulsa. Amber Holt totalled 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the loss.
The overall shooting of San Antonio was up to the mark this time and they went 56.5 percent from the field, including 52.9 percent from three-point range, and 93.8 percent from free throw line. Tulsa in comparison shot 47.2 percent from the floor, 38.1 percent beyond the arc and 78.3 percent from the line.
The fourth game of the season between these two teams was a see-saw battle the whole way, with the balance swinging from one end to other as the game progressed.
Trailing by 90-88 with 30 seconds to go in the fourth period, Robinson found her way to the rim and tied the game at 90. Riley on return missed a three-pointer in the last second of the quarter that could have given them the victory.
The Silver Stars scored the first nine points of the overtime and went ahead by 99-90 for good. Shock did not bother them for rest of the period enabling San Antonio to sweep the season series.
Tags: