Singing the Defensive Blues

Silver Stars 83, Mystics 75

San Antonio Silver Stars guard Becky Hammon paused beyond the three-point arc, bewildered by the lack of movement from the Washington Mystics. Ball in hand, Hammon was a good five feet from the nearest defender. She looked up. No one came toward her. She looked back at the ball. Still no one came toward her.

After taking full advantage of the time to get comfortable, Hammon knocked down a three-pointer with 3 minutes 27 seconds remaining that made a mockery of the Mystics' disjointed defense in an 83-75 loss yesterday at Verizon Center.

"I've been playing 10 years, and I've never had that much time in my life," Hammon said after leading all scorers with a season-high 28 points to spearhead San Antonio.

Mystics Coach Tree Rollins buried his head in his hands as Hammon's shot fell. Whether his players had lost sight of the 5-foot-6 Hammon behind two forwards was irrelevant; they were never supposed to leave the perimeter free for the taking.

"We just didn't execute any of our defensive plan," Rollins said. "We're not in practice here. I can't say, 'Let's redo this and start over.' We weren't switching the way the schemes were planned, and it starts with things as little as talking. We talk on offense a lot, but we have to talk on defense, too."

Washington (6-11) began the game out-rebounding San Antonio 2-1 and built a four-point lead by the end of the first quarter, thanks to a strong defensive effort. The Silver Stars (12-6) adjusted quickly enough, though, and brought pressure inside with 6-4 center Ann Wauters, who drove the lane with ease and racked up 13 first-half points on 6-of-7 shooting.

As San Antonio established a 36-28 halftime lead, the Mystics' stars faltered. Guard Alana Beard played easily her worst half of the season, scoring just two points and attempting three shots by the break, and forward Monique Currie went cold, making 1 of 6 from the field.

But Beard came alive for 18 second-half points as the Mystics found their composure on the glass -- Washington out-rebounded San Antonio 44-30 -- to mount another late-game comeback. Crystal Langhorne poured in 11 of her 17 points, a new career high, in the second half to aid the effort. Taj McWilliams-Franklin added nine of her 15, and the Mystics reclaimed the lead 61-60 midway through the fourth quarter, when Currie sank two free throws.

"They got assertive there after the break," Silver Stars Coach Dan Hughes said. "We tried man, we tried zone and nothing worked."

While the Mystics thwarted the success of Wauters and Ruth Riley under the basket, the Silver Stars' dynamic one-two punch of Hammon and forward Sophia Young -- who were each limited to seven points in the first half -- started to find more open space.

Hammon and Young found so much open space, in fact, that they combined for San Antonio's final 24 points.

"It all boils down to defense," Beard said. There was a "lack of defensive execution and that's all you can say. There was no communication. You had a scheme and you didn't execute."