San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Sophia Young's three-point play with 0.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter lifted the San Antonio Silvers Stars to an 83-82 win over the Phoenix Mercury in the regular season finale for both teams at AT&T Center.
DeWanna Bonner's two free throws with 2.6 seconds remaining put the Mercury ahead 82-80 before Young converted a layup and was fouled with 0.9 seconds to play. After making the free throw to put her squad ahead 83-82, the Mercury turned the ball over on the inbounds pass and San Antonio prevailed.
Becky Hammon scored a game-high 30 points and Michelle Snow added 22 points for San Antonio, which won three of five to end the regular season and finished with a 14-20 record, good for third place in the Western Conference. The Silver Stars will face Phoenix in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.
Bonner had a team-leading 20 points to go with 12 rebounds for the Mercury, who earned the second seed in the West and ended the regular season at 15-19.
Playoffs
The Mercury will open their 2010 WNBA Playoff run against this same San Antonio team on Thursday in Phoenix at 6:00 p.m.
The Silver Stars should be an easy first round matchup for the Mercury having recently lost Chamique Holdsclaw, their third-leading scorer, to a season ending injury.
SB Nation Arizona will have a full series preview later in the week.
Here is the full schedule:
Conference Semifinals vs. San Antonio
Thursday, August 26 6 p.m. PT (ESPN2) US Airways Center
Saturday, August 28 10 a.m. PT (ESPN2) AT&T Center (San Antonio)
Monday, August 30 7 p.m. PT (NBATV)* US Airways Center
*If necessary