San Antonio Silver Stars at Seattle Storm

Silver Stars win first game in Seattle since July 29, 2007

The Silver Stars' guard had 14 points and eight assists, Shenise Johnson added 15 points, and San Antonio earned its first win in Seattle in six years, defeating the Storm 77-56 Friday night.

"D-Rob makes it so easy," Johnson said. "There's no one guarding her because she's always inside the lane and if you can hit that open shot you'll have 15 a game. She's so quick. Did you see her out there? I love having her as a teammate."

Jia Perkins added 13 points for San Antonio (8-14), which had lost 10 straight in Seattle since a win on July 29, 2007.

The teams will play again in Seattle on Sunday night when San Antonio can close within a half game of the Storm for fourth place in the Western Conference.

Robinson entered the game with a league-leading 6.9 assists per game and had seven in the first half. She scored eight points in the third quarter to help the Silver Stars lead by 31.

"She can create opportunities for your team and her quickness is off the charts," Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes said. "She did a good job of distributing. We had four players in double figures."

Robinson spread the credit among her teammates.

"It was a great team win for us," Robinson said. "Everyone game out with a lot of energy."

Shekinna Stricklen scored 16 and Tina Thompson 12 to lead Seattle (9-12), which had won three of four as it closed in on Phoenix for third place. The Storm dropped to 4-5 at home.

The Silver Stars shot 30 of 60 from the field.

"We haven't done that all year," Hughes said. "I'd like to spread it out through some of the other games."

The Silver Stars improved to 3-8 on the road. They are 4-2 since July 20, with both losses coming to league-leading Minnesota.

Seattle's frustration flared when Temeka Johnson received a flagrant foul for a hard, double-armed slap at Robinson with 2:02 left in the third quarter and the Storm down 61-35.

"I guess it was just a frustration foul," Robinson said about Johnson hitting her from behind. "I don't know. I just got the rebound and knocked down the free throws."

Most of the starters for both teams sat out the fourth quarter.

Johnson scored 11 and Perkins nine to help the Silver Stars take a 47-29 halftime lead. The Silver Stars never trailed, shooting 19 of 32 (59.4 percent) from the field and leading by 23 late in the second quarter.

"I don't know understand why we were so flat," Storm coach Brian Agler said. "I will say that San Antonio outplayed us. They were more prepared, they were ready and they were hungrier."

Thompson scored 12 in the first half, including eight in the second quarter when she hit two 3s. The Storm had 10 turnovers in the first half that led to 10 points.

Both teams had to make big adjustments this year because of injuries to star players. Seattle is without Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, and the Silver Stars are missing Becky Hammon and Sophia Young.

Regular Season Series

SEA wins series 3-2