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San Antonio Exits Playoffs After Phoenix Wins Second Straight Game in Opening Round of WNBA Playoffs

SAN ANTONIO -- The Phoenix Mercury scorched the nets with their red hot shooting Saturday afternoon in San Antonio at the AT&T Center to defeat the San Antonio Silver Stars 92-73. The win completed a two game sweep of the Silver Stars in the opening round of the 2010 WNBA Western Conference Finals.

San Antonio was looking to even the series up at a game apiece but found themselves dealing with a Mercury team that seemingly made every shot they attempted in the first quarter. With two minutes left in the first quarter, Phoenix held a 21-2 lead as they used an outstanding offensive effort to build the double digit lead while the Silver Stars struggled to get their shots to fall.

San Antonio was able to keep the game close in game one but Phoenix had an opportunity to close out the series this time and they took full advantage of being in that position as they brought a high level of energy that the Silver Stars had trouble matching. After their initial field goal, San Antonio did not score again until Becky Hammon hit a 3-pointer with four minutes to go in the opening quarter to cut the Mercury lead to 21-5. Hammon summed it up best when she mentioned what it takes to beat Phoenix, "You can't shoot 38 percent and beat Phoenix," she said.

Phoenix has won the WNBA championship twice and each time their titles came after eliminating San Antonio in the playoffs. "This was a very good team we faced and we were a little bit undermanned without Chamique Holdsclaw," said San Anotion Head Coach Sandy Brondello.

Phoenix held a 30-15 advantage at the end of the opening quarter as San Antonio's offense struggled to match the Mercury's high enerfy offensive effort shooting just 5 of 17 from the field.

San Antonio chipped away at the Phoenix lead that had bulged to 21-points at times and found themselves trailing by 18 points going into halftime with the Mercury holding a 48-30 lead at the intermission.

During the second half of play San Antonio found a spark and was able to cut the lead to as little as 12 points. Each time Phoenix would get hot once again and keep the Silver Stars from mounting a serious rally which allowed them to come away with the 92-73 win and move on to the second round of the playoffs.

Becky Hammon led San Antonio with 21 points to go along with seven assists. Sophia young finished with 15 points and Ruth Riley contibuted with 13.

Phoenix was led by Diana Taurasi with 23 points and Tangela Smith scored 16 for the Mercury. Candace Dupree scored 13 points in the second half to finish with 19 in the game to go along with 11 rebounds. Penny Taylor had 12 assists and scored 12 points. Phoenix shot a steller 53 percent from the field for the game.