SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Becky Hammon scored 22 points to lead the San Antonio Silver Stars to their 12th straight victory, 75-72 against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night.
Danielle Robinson added 16 points and Sophia Young 13 for the Silver Stars (16-5).
Crystal Langhorne had 17 points, including 11 in the final quarter, to lead Washington (5-17) on a late rally. Jasmine Thomas also scored 17 points and Monique Currie had 12.
Coming off their largest margin of victory of the season — 42 points Sunday at Phoenix — the Silver Stars had to fend off a late rally to beat the Mystics.
Currie rallied the Mystics in the fourth, hitting a jumper to cut the lead to 63-52 with 7 minutes left. Langhorne hit two jumpers to pull Washington to 67-61 with 4 minutes remaining.
Robinson hit her second straight short jumper to give San Antonio a 71-62 lead a minute later. Robinson scored six of her points in the final 3 minutes to help the Silver Stars preserve their win streak.
San Antonio’s Shameka Christon stole a crosscourt pass with less than two minutes remaining on a 3-on-2 break and the Mystics trailing 71-65. Young hit one of two free throws on the next possession.
Washington closed to 75-72 on Thomas’ 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining, but Young was able to dribble out the clock after getting behind the defense on the ensuing inbounds.
Hammon scored 12 points in the third quarter to help the Silver Stars overcome a dismal opening half in which they shot 35 percent from the field and had six turnovers.
Hammon opened the second half with a 3-pointer and a driving layup to extend San Antonio’s lead to 40-32. She added another 3 following a layup by Robinson to extend the Silver Stars’ advantage to 47-37 with 5:23 left in the third.
Despite going 3 for 15 to open the game, the Silver Stars tied the game at 9-all on a pair of free throws by Young. The Mystics didn’t fare much better offensively, going 3 for 13 in the first quarter. Jayne Appel had four of her game-high 10 rebounds in the first 5 minutes.
San Antonio closed the period with an 18-13 lead behind their reserves. Jia Perkins and Danielle Adams scored seven points in a 9-4 run at the close of the quarter.
Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes was assessed a technical foul with 3 minutes left in the first half after throwing his jacket onto the bench and had to be restrained by Young. Hughes was upset with a no call when Robinson lost the ball on a contested layup on a fast-break.
The technical sparked a pair of 3-pointers by Hammon that gave the Silver Stars a 33-27 lead. The Mystics erased the deficit on a 3-pointer by Thomas and a long jumper by Currie with 0.2 seconds left. Currie’s shot was initially ruled a 3 but changed after a video review at the half.
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