 SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Crystal Kelly had 19 points to lead the Monarchs to a 84-67 win over the San Antonio Silver Stars on Saturday night that kept Sacramento alive in the WNBA's Western Conference playoffs.
The first-round matchup will be decided Monday night in Game 3 in San Antonio.
Kelly started in place of Rebekkah Brunson, who sat out her fourth straight game due to an injured right knee. Kelly was 7-of-9 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
Nicole Powell had 17, Adrian Williams-Strong scored 11, and Ticha Penicheiro added 12 points and nine assists for the Monarchs, who won in San Antonio for the first time since Aug. 3, 2006.
Becky Hammon, who had 30 points in San Antonio's series-opening win, led the Silver Stars again with 14 points. Sophia Young and Ann Wauters scored 13 each.
Both teams came out strong in the first quarter, trading the lead seven times. Sacramento broke out in the second period.
The Monarchs, who lost 85-78 at home in the series opener on Thursday night, went on a 14-2 run. The spurt ended with 2:03 left in the quarter when Kelly's layup made it 45-33. They shot 10 of 16 in the second quarter (63 percent) and led 48-39 at halftime.
Sacramento keep the pressure on San Antonio all night, keeping a double-digit lead throughout the second half. The Monarchs went up by as many as 21 points, leading 84-63 with 1:23 remaining in the game.
The defensive pressure got to the Silver Stars, who committed 22 turnovers that were converted into 20 points by Sacramento.
San Antonio, which made 60 percent of its shots in Game 1, couldn't get its offense going. The Silver Stars were 25-of-58 from the field (43 percent) on Saturday.
Top-seeded San Antonio ousted Sacramento last year in a three-game series that was decided by Vickie Johnson's last-second layup.
The Silver Stars, who went 15-2 at home in the regular season, hadn't lost on their floor since falling to Minnesota on July 19. San Antonio was a league-best 24-10 overall.
The winner of this series will face Los Angeles or Seattle in the Western Conference finals. Los Angeles leads 1-0 in the series that resumes Sunday at Seattle. |