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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Silver Stars rookies trip Storm

Adams, Robinson deliver in clutch

Silver Stars' Danielle Adams is fouled as Storm's Katie Smith, left, and Le'Coe Willingham defend in first half. (Associated Press)

SAN ANTONIO – On a night when two Seattle players were announced as All-Star starters, a pair of San Antonio rookies stole the spotlight.

Danielle Adams scored 15 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Danielle Robinson hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds left and the Silver Stars beat the Storm 69-66 on Thursday night.

Robinson finished with 12 points to help the Silver Stars (8-4) snap a three-game losing streak overall, and a six-game skid against the Storm.

Adams had a tiebreaking three-point play to put San Antonio up 65-62 with 28.7 seconds to go. After Katie Smith hit a jumper to pull Seattle within one, Robinson hit two free throws with 14.7 seconds left.

Wright’s putback cut the lead to one again with 2.2 seconds to go, and Robinson then sealed the game for the Silver Stars.

“Our team has nothing but confidence in us,” Robinson said, “so that’s a great feeling, to come into the game knowing that the team can depend on us. We come in, and we can be that spark.”

Tanisha Wright scored 18 points and Swin Cash added 13 for Seattle (7-5), which began a three-game road trip. Sue Bird finished with 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field.

After Smith hit a 3-pointer with 5:48 remaining, Adams hit a 3 of her own. That started a run of Adams scoring 15 consecutive points for her team until Robinson’s free throws in the final minute.

“I was just in the groove, and I was feeling it,” Adams said. “I had a whole bunch of open shots and I decided to just take over.”

Adams, who’s 6-foot-1 and the team’s second-leading rebounder, hit 5 of 6 shots from the field and all three of her free throws during her 15-point burst.

The Storm had 20 turnovers and shot 39.7 percent from the field.

Bird voted as starter

Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi, Seattle’s Sue Bird and Indiana’s Tamika Catchings have been voted as starters for the WNBA All-Star game again.

Minnesota rookie Maya Moore, the Storm’s Swin Cash and injured Los Angeles center Candace Parker joined Taurasi and Bird as starters for the Western Conference announced Thursday night.

Moore becomes the first rookie voted to start since Bird and Catchings in 2002.

Catchings was joined by Fever teammate Katie Douglas, Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry, Connecticut’s Tina Charles and New York’s Cappie Pondexter as East starters.

Taurasi, Bird and Catchings have been selected as starters in every All-Star game that has taken place since they have been in the league.

All-Star reserves will be announced on Tuesday.