AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- With the Detroit Shock trailing San

Antonio by nine points late in the second half, coach Bill Laimbeer

turned the reins over to assistants Rick Mahorn and Laurie Byrd.

"I excused myself," Laimbeer said. "I wasn't able to motivate

them, so I decided to let Rick and Laurie try."

Detroit outscored the Silver Stars 20-2 in the final 4:27 to

post a 74-65 victory.

"When a team is walking around lackadaisically like we were,

you have to give them some direction," Mahorn said. "I told them

that the game wasn't over, and that defense was going to win it."

Andrea Stinson, a former Charlotte All-Star who signed with

Detroit in the offseason, hit two 3-pointers in the final three minutes

to help rally the Shock.

Rookie Kara Braxton also had six points in the final run.

"That was exciting, but I don't think we want to have very many

games come down to the end like that," Braxton said. "It was big

to have a vet like Andrea out there to help us."

Cheryl Ford led Detroit with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while

Deanna Nolan had 11 points and 10 assists.

Wendy Palmer-Daniel and LaToya Thomas led San Antonio with 16

points each.

"We put ourselves in a position to win, but we didn't close the

game out," said San Antonio coach Dan Hughes, who was ejected late

in the first half for arguing a call.

Detroit led by seven early in the second half before San Antonio

staged a 9-0 run. Marie Ferdinand had six points during the stretch

to put the Silver Stars up 45-43 with 17:10 left. Palmer-Daniel

followed with San Antonio's next 10 points to stretch the lead to

57-52.

Detroit turned the ball over 14 times in the second half,

leading to 11 Silver Stars points, but rallied to pull within 65-64

on Ford's free throw with 1:52 left.

After Shyra Ely missed a 3-pointer, Braxton's baseline jumper

put Detroit back in front, and Nolan's steal set up Stinson's

3-pointer to make it 69-65 with 53.5 seconds to go.

The Silver Stars missed their last eight shots, while Detroit

made its last six.

"In the women's game, there is always the possibility of making

big comebacks," Mahorn said. "You never give up until the final

buzzer."

The Shock, the 2003 WNBA champions, have opened the season with

three wins in four days. San Antonio, the worst team in the league

last season, is 0-2.