Detroit Survives Rally

Shock 77, Silver Stars 71

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Coach Bill Laimbeer has learned one thing about his Detroit Shock. No big lead is safe.

Detroit, which led by as many as 17 points, withstood a late rally from the slumping San Antonio Silver Stars for a 77-71 win on Sunday.

"They are driving me to drink," Laimbeer said joking after San Antonio came within two points in the final minute.

Ruth Riley had 21 points for the Shock, who ended a three-game losing streak. Deanna Nolan scored 19 and Swin Cash added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the defending WNBA champs (10-11).

"This is big, because we lost our last home game, then two in a row on the road," Nolan said.

Shannon Johnson led San Antonio (6-15) with a season-high 25 points. LaToya Thomas added 17 points for the Silver Stars, who have lost eight of their last 10 games.

"For us to come back and keep playing plugging away, that shows what we can do when we play hard," San Antonio coach Dee Brown said.

Cheryl Ford added 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Shock.

Detroit struggled for much of the first half until a late 14-1 run to take a 40-31 lead at halftime.

The Silver Stars pulled within three on Agnieszka Bibrzycka's 3-pointer early in the second half before the Shock went on a 12-0 run. Nolan scored seven and Riley added four in the spurt.

San Antonio rallied to 66-64 on Johnson's 3-pointer with 3:51 left. They had a chance to tie in the final minute, but Elaine Powell stole the ball from Johnson. Riley split a pair of free throws, and Cash added a layup to extend the lead.

Detroit moved within two games of the Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Fever.

The Shock won just their fourth game at The Palace. Chauncey Billups, the NBA Finals MVP, attended the game.