SAN ANTONIO - When he became coach of the San Antonio Silver Stars and directed a team that won seven games his first year, Dan Hughes didn't have far to look for the role model to build a championship team.
"My role was right outside my back door," Hughes said. "You had the Spurs sitting here. And the things they represented just reinforced me that even when we won seven games, you know what, keep going, keep going, keep going."
Just as the Spurs played for a championship not long after Tim Duncan joined the team, the Silver Stars' fortunes changed when Becky Hammon came on board.
Hammon scored 35 points, making four free throws in the final 36 seconds, and the Silver Stars advanced to their first WNBA finals with a 76-72 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday.
"We were lucky to get people, and now I've got people anybody could coach," Hughes said.
Hammon is at the top of the list. In her second year playing with the Silver Stars after a draft-day trade with New York, Hammon topped her 32-point performance from last year.
Her 35 points tied for second in WNBA playoff history with the Sparks' Lisa Leslie, behind Tameka Whitmore's 41 points two years ago while she was playing for Indiana.
The Sparks led 72-67 when Temeka Johnson made two free throws with 1:57 left in the game, but Hammon tied it on a 3-pointer with 1:03 left.
Hammon was 10-of-18 from the field, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range, and made all nine foul shots.
"I just try to go up there and knock them down," Hammon said. "It's just repetition. It's for those moments you work so hard as a player."
After Hammon's 3-pointer, Los Angeles lost the ball the next trip down the floor when DeLisha Milton-Jones, who joined Candace Parker to lead Los Angeles with 16 points, was called for an offensive foul.
Hammon followed with four free throws on the next two possessions to put away the game.
"We come back when things seem impossible," Hammon said.
The best-of-five finals will start Wednesday in San Antonio. The opponent will be determined Monday when Detroit and New York play Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals in Ypsilanti, Mich. The Shock evened the series Sunday with a 64-55 victory.
