RUS/USA – Hammon takes center stage as Silver Stars reach WNBA Finals

SAN ANTONIO (WNBA) – Not a day went by during the women’s basketball tournament at the Beijing Games this summer when someone failed to refer to the controversial decision by American-born Becky Hammon to play for Russia.

A player during the WNBA close season with CSKA Moscow, Hammon jumped at the chance to receive citizenship and make her first Olympic appearance.

Since helping her adopted country win the bronze medal in China, Hammon has made sure to stay in the limelight in the WNBA because on Sunday she led the San Antonio Silver Stars past the Los Angeles Sparks and into the Finals for the first time.

Hammon made six of eight shots from long range and finished with 35 points as San Antonio beat the Sparks, 76-72, for a 2-1 triumph in the Western Conference Finals.

The Sparks had won the first game 85-70 only for San Antonio to hit back and edge Game Two 67-66.

The points haul tied for second in WNBA play-off history with the Sparks' four-time USA Olympic gold medal winner Lisa Leslie.

Tamika Whitmore had 41 points in a play-off game two years ago while playing for Indiana.

San Antonio will take on the winner of New York’s Eastern Conference Final showdown between Detroit and New York – the team that traded Hammon on draft day before the 2007 season.

FIBA