Silver Stars blow 12-point halftime lead in loss against Lynx

The San Antonio Silver Stars suffered a heart-breaking defeat to the Minnesota Lynx on July 31^st, losing 70-69 on their home court.

The Silver Stars looked good in the first two quarters of the game, taking a 12 point lead into the half time break. The Silver Stars dropped their guard in the third quarter, letting the Lynx right back in the game. The final quarter was a showdown between the two best teams in the WNBA right now. Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen put the Silver Stars away, making a clutch fade-away jumper with 1.5 seconds left.

"[Silver Stars coach Dan] Hughes was yelling to foul, so I wanted to get the shot off because I knew there wouldn't be enough time to run another set play after a foul," Whalen told reporters after the game. "I just tried to get a shot up and over the defender and it went in."

Coming off the bench, Jia Perkins led the Silver Stars in scoring, finishing the game with 18 points and three rebounds.

Silver Star team leader Becky Hammon, who had her best performance of the season in her last outing against the Phoenix Mercury, wasn't as impressive against the Lynx. Offensively, Hammon did a good job shooting 50 percent from the field (converting on four of her five three point attempts), and finishing with 15 points. However, Hammon had problems running San Antonio's offense, turning the ball over 7 times during the game.

Sophia Young and Danielle Robinson also had decent performances for the Silver Stars, finishing the game with ten points apiece. Even with the loss, the Silver Stars will remain at the second spot in the WNBA's Western Conference standings, trailing the Lynx by two games. Both teams will meet again on August 4, in what should be another tightly contested game.

The Silver Stars next game will be on August 2, when they face the Seattle Storm. The last encounter between the two teams was an embarrassing 73-55 loss for the Silver Stars, and they'll be hungry for some payback.

David has supported the San Antonio Silver Stars for the past three years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter.

Sources:

Associated Press, "Lindsay Whalen's fadeaway with 1.5 seconds left boosts Lynx"

Player and game information from ESPN.com