Young, Hammon lead Silver Stars past Shock

SAN ANTONIO – Sophia Young's aggressive play helped the San Antonio Silver Stars end their three-game skid while sending the Tulsa Shock to a franchise-record 14th straight loss.

Young scored 20 points, Becky Hammon added 17 and the Silver Stars beat the Shock 72-64 Saturday night. Scholanda Robinson scored 12 points to help the Silver Stars (12-8) pull even with Seattle for second place in the Western Conference.

"I'm trying to be more aggressive inside," said Young, who attempted a game-high 17 shots. "Coach (Dan Hughes) has been getting on me to take more shots, so that's what I'm trying to do."

Tiffany Jackson had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Shock (1-19), who eclipsed the team mark set in 2002 when they were in Detroit. Kayla Pederson added 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting, and Liz Cambage had nine points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

Tulsa lost to San Antonio for the third time this season. The Silver Stars won the first meeting by 20 points and the second by 29.

The Shock committed 26 turnovers, leading to 22 points for the Silver Stars, but stayed close throughout.

Pedersen's 3-pointer from the left corner with 45.7 seconds left cut San Antonio's lead to six points, but Jayne Appel's offensive rebound with 20.6 seconds left, followed by Hammon's two free throws, sealed the win.

"It definitely was a sloppy win for us," Appel said. "We definitely wanted to play a little bit better, but in the end it was still a win."

Despite the latest loss, Shock coach Teresa Edwards was impressed by her team's effort.

"That's one of the most positive games we've put together," Edwards said. "We still had a lot of turnovers. We're trying to eliminate that, but our execution, the players believing and trusting in one another to execute, was the best game we've had so far."

Tulsa had 18 turnovers in the first half — matching its average coming in for an entire game — but trailed only 28-21 at halftime. That's because the Silver Stars shot only 35.5 percent from the field and committed 10 turnovers themselves.

The teams met in the 2008 WNBA Finals, when the Shock were still in Detroit. Since moving to Tulsa before last season, though, the Shock have lost six of seven against the Silver Stars — and 47 of 53 overall.

"We're getting there," Edwards said. "Just have to hope we can coat tail off this and move it into the next game, not go backwards."