SAN ANTONIO — Katie Smith and Taj McWilliams-Franklin helped Detroit take a first step toward reclaiming the WNBA title by leading the Shock to a 77-69 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
Smith scored 25 points and McWilliams-Franklin had 24.
The Silver Stars were led by Sophia Young’s 21 points and 16 from Ann Wauters. Becky Hammon, who scored 35 points in the decisive Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday, scored 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
“I thought we let them get too comfortable offensively,” former Colorado State star Hammon said. “We just weren’t ourselves in the first half. It’s disappointing to come out and lack energy in a game like that.”
Smith’s jumper from 19 feet with 8:19 to play gave Detroit a 14-point lead. But the Silver Stars outscored the Shock 20-6 during the next six minutes.
Hammon scored on two consecutive layups and then hit two free throws to tie the game with 2:16 to go.
But Kara Braxton scored inside and was fouled. She missed the free throw, but Detroit rebounded and Smith sank a jumper to make it 73-69 with 1:44 left. The Shock hit four free throws to close out the game.
