SAN ANTONIO (AP) -Sophia Young always wanted to hit a game-winning shot, and she finally did it.
Young had 20 points and 12 rebounds, including a three-point play with 5.5 seconds left to give the San Antonio Silver Stars a 68-67 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs on Thursday night.
``Things like this, you dream about it,'' said Young about her last play to win the game. ``Sometimes you never get a chance to experience it.''
Trailing by two points, Young drove the lane and was fouled by Adrian Williams-Strong. The basket was good to tie score, and Young then hit the go-ahead free throw.
Becky Hammon add 16 points and Ann Wauters had 12 to help the Silver Stars (11-6) improve to 9-1 at home this season.
Rebekkah Brunson scored 18 points to lead Sacramento (8-9), and Ticha Penicheiro had eight assists.
A tight game throughout, the Silver Stars pulled to 67-65 on Hammon's 3-pointer with 33 seconds left. Penicheiro then missed a jumper with 7 seconds to go, setting up the Silver Stars' final play.
``When you're down by five late in the game, it's going to take some picture-perfect basketball to win, and the 3 Becky took followed by the layup by Sophia was picture-perfect for us,'' Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes said. ``The team gave the execution needed to win.''
Sacramento had an off shooting night, hitting only 36 percent (28-for-77) from the field. However, the Monarchs hustled on the boards, getting 13 second-chance points. San Antonio had none.
Both teams struggled to keep the lead in the first half, exchanging it nine times, eight in the first quarter alone. However, the Monarchs were able to gain momentum going into halftime when Penicheiro's running bank shot with 5 seconds left in the half gave them a two point lead.
``I thought we played really hard, especially on the road,'' Brunson said. ``But down the stretch we didn't do everything we needed to do defensively to keep the game ours.''
Kara Lawson sat out the game with a sore left shoulder, aggravated against Minnesota on June 26. Adrian Williams-Strong started in Lawson's place.
