Rookie Danielle Adams leads San Antonio Silver Stars to a 86-74 win over Atlanta Dream: WNBA Recap
Rookie forward-centre Danielle Adams came off the bench with a game-high 32 points and seven rebounds as the San Antonio Silver Stars beat the Atlanta Dream 86-74 at AT&T Center on Saturday night.
The victory stretched the Silver Stars’ winning streak to three games- making them the only undefeated team of the Women National Basketball Association (WNBA) thus far in the 2011season. In addition to that, the victory snapped
a four-game losing streak of the Silver Stars against the Eastern Conference champions Atlanta.
The 32-point spurt by Adams was the most by any rookie in the history of WNBA. What Adams did was phenomenal, shooting 11 of 19 from the floor, 5 of 11 from behind the 3-point line, and a perfect 5-for-5 from free throw line.
Trailing by 47-41 with 04:10 to go in the third quarter, the 22-year-old hit three consecutive three-pointers within 44 seconds to put San Antonio ahead by 50-48 - their first lead of the night.
San Antonio forwards Sophia Young and Ruth Riley also chipped in with 12 points each in the victory.
Forward Angel McCoughtry led Atlanta with 19 points and seven rebounds, shooting 5-for-5 from free throw line. Guard Coco Miller had 13 points and four rebounds while Erika de Souza ended with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds
in the losing effort.
Dream started the game well and held a 20-10 lead with 02:50 to go in the first quarter. The Silver Stars then canned six straight shots to cut the deficit to four points with 01:16 remaining in the quarter. Miller’s jumper on
the next possession stretched Atlanta’s lead to 22-16 after 12 minutes of the game. Atlanta’s continued the tempo in the second quarter and they successfully held a 35-28 lead at halftime.
Trailing by seven points at intermission, the Silver Stars fought back in the third quarter and cut their deficit to a 55-54 lead with 40 ticks to go in the quarter. However, McCoughtry hit a pair of free throws to put the Dream
ahead by 56-55, heading into the final stanza.
In the fourth quarter, San Antonio changed the course of the game once and for all. They outscored the Dream 31-18 in the fourth quarter. Showing Atlanta a sign of what was to come, the Silver Stars went on a 9-0 run midway through
the fourth to lead the Dream 73-64 with 03:41 to go. Atlanta managed to trim the deficit to eight points, 79-71, with 01:32 remaining but San Antonio scored the next seven points to put the game out of the reach.
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