SAN ANTONIO — Dan Hughes finally earned his 200th career victory in a difficult season for the San Antonio coach, and it came at the expense of the Liberty.
With his top two players out with season-ending knee injuries and others sidelined by various ailments, the Silver Stars have been struggling in a bid for a seventh straight postseason appearance, but the Liberty couldn’t take advantage.
Yesterday, Danielle Adams led San Antonio to its second straight win, scoring 20 points and adding eight rebounds and six assists in a 65-53 victory over the Liberty.
Cappie Pondexter had 20 points for the Liberty (7-11), which has lost four of five. It marked the second straight game San Antonio has limited an opponent to one player in double figures. Plenette Pierson and Alex Montgomery each added seven points.
The Liberty shot 27 percent from the field, going 16 for 60 from the field while matching their fewest points in a 74-53 loss to Indiana on July 23.
“I thought we were very sluggish mentally and physically,” Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer said. “We came to play basketball, not to win.”
Laimbeer was ejected with 38 seconds left in the first half after arguing a shot-clock violation. Laimbeer joked with officials when the shot clock failed to start twice during the opening possession, but became displeased when it failed to reset on a missed layup.
Hughes joins Washington Mystics coach Mike Thibault and former Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor as the only WNBA coaches with 200 wins.