The San Antonio Silver Stars are looking for the best record in the Western Conference. The Sacramento Monarchs are just hoping to get healthier.
The Silver Stars can move into a tie atop the West on Wednesday night when they try to beat the Monarchs for the third time this year.
San Antonio (20-11) trails first-place Phoenix by one-half game for the conference's best record. The Silver Stars also can clinch at least the No. 2 seed by beating Sacramento (18-13).
After the Monarchs won 74-57 at home over the Silver Stars on June 5, the Silver Stars have responded with strong 3-point shooting to win the next two meetings in San Antonio. Leading scorer Becky Hammon had seven 3-pointers in the victories as San Antonio made 18-of-32 (56.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
San Antonio needed overtime to win its third straight, 84-77 at Los Angeles on Tuesday. Sophia Young scored eight of her 19 points in a 10-2 run to begin overtime as the Silver Stars forced the Sparks to miss their first eight shots during the extra session.
Center Ruth Riley did not dress after injuring her left ankle Saturday night in a 63-60 win over Houston. The Silver Stars started a third guard in Vickie Johnson, who had a season-high 19 points.
"Vickie Johnson played big," Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes said. "That's what you get when you have a veteran that understands where we are and makes some timely plays for us."
Sacramento may not have two starters in the lineup for the second straight game. Point guard Ticha Penicheiro has missed two straight games with a strained right hamstring while center Yolanda Griffith sat out Sunday's 86-82 overtime win over Washington with a hyperextended right knee.
Nicole Powell helped the Monarchs pick up the slack and broke out of her shooting slump by scoring seven of her 28 points in overtime. Powell had averaged 5.0 points on 4-of-26 shooting from the field over her previous three games.
"You can see the (shooting) stats, they were terrible. I just wanted to make something tonight, anything," Powell said.
Kara Lawson scored 15 points and Rebekkah Brunson had 12 and 10 rebounds for Sacramento, which won for the first time in four overtime games.
"We had players who aren't even used to playing that were making big plays," Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek said. "Good teams find a way to win."
The Monarchs have won six of their last seven home meetings against the Silver Stars.