Things went from bad to worse Friday for the Tulsa Shock.
Coach Gary Kloppenburg already knew he would be without 6-foot-8 Liz Cambage, who rolled her ankle in Sunday's double-overtime loss at Los Angeles.
When rookie point guard Angel Goodrich arrived at the BOK Center, she was coughing up blood and complaining of headaches.
She missed pregame warm-ups and was held out for precautionary reasons. Playing without two starters, the Shock was no match for the San Antonio Silver Stars.
The visitors used a blazing second quarter in racing to a 14-point halftime lead and won 74-65 before 5,452 spectators at the BOK Center, officially ending Tulsa's 2013 WNBA playoff hopes.
Jia Perkins scored 19 points as the Silver Stars (11-18) maintained their own fading playoff hopes. Tulsa (9-20) fell 5 1/2 games behind fourth-place Seattle in the Western Conference with five games remaining.
The Shock plays host to the New York Liberty at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Riquna Williams scored 18 points in her first start of the season and Glory Johnson had 16 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Shock.
"Angel was a surprise to all of us. We had no idea. I guess it was a last-second decision. That made it tough because I had to go play (point guard)," said Williams, who normally plays the shooting guard and is usually first off the bench. "(Starting is) not my comfort zone."
Skylar Diggins drew her first start since injuring her right ankle on July 13 and had 12 second-half points, along with seven assists and seven turnovers.
"(Goodrich) stabilizes you out there and gets the ball moving, but I thought Diggins came in and battled and did a decent job, except for the turnovers," Kloppenburg said.
Even without Cambage, who has been a tower of strength over the past six weeks, the Shock whipped the Silver Stars on the boards and collected 14 offensive rebounds. The big difference was in shooting percentage. Tulsa shot 36.8 percent overall and an abysmal 1-for-14 from behind the 3-point arc.
"Shooting like that really puts us in a bind," Kloppenburg said.
Tulsa started the game with a 13-6 lead, but San Antonio ended the first half on an 8-2 run and took over in the second quarter, outscoring the Shock 28-13 while shooting 11-for-15 in the quarter.
The Shock trailed 42-28 at halftime but kept battling. Tulsa pulled within 70-65 on Candice Wiggins' free throws with 31.1 seconds left, but Shenise Johnson's foul shots put the game out of reach.
Silver Stars 74, Shock 65
| San Antonio |
14 |
28 |
14 |
18 |
- |
74 |
| Tulsa |
15 |
13 |
19 |
18 |
- |
65 |
SAN ANTONIO: S.Johnson 5-12 3-3 13, Adams 2-6 6-6 10, Appel 4-6 0-1 8, Perkins 8-16 2-2 19, Whyte 0-1 2-3 2, Christon 3-9 0-0 8, Kraayeveld 2-4 1-1 6, Alexander 4-5 0-0 8, Poppens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 14-16 74.
TULSA: Wiggins 2-6 2-2 7, G.Johnson 6-15 4-5 16, Jackson-Jones 2-6 1-2 5, Williams 7-16 4-5 18, Diggins 5-10 2-2 12, Hodges 0-4 0-0 0, Lacy 0-3 0-0 0, Paris 3-5 1-1 7, Powell 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-68 14-17 65.
3-point goals: San Antonio 4-14 (Christon 2-5, Kraayeveld 1-3, Perkins 1-4, Adams 0-1, S.Johnson 0-1), Tulsa 1-14 (Wiggins 1-1, Diggins 0-1, Powell 0-2, Lacy 0-2, Hodges 0-4, Williams 0-4).
Fouled out: None.
Rebounds: San Antonio 36 (Appel 11), Tulsa 43 (G.Johnson 12).
Assists: San Antonio 16 (Perkins, S.Johnson 4), Tulsa 8 (Diggins 7).
Total fouls: San Antonio 15, Tulsa 16.
A: 5,452 (7,479).
Pro W Basketball (WNBA)
9 p.m. Saturday
Basketball Australia manager Tamara Sheppard was in town to meet with Shock officials Thursday and discuss the responsibilities of Australian national players in international competition the next three years.
