The Shock continued their pre-break fade, dropping their fourth in a row in a nightmare week for the franchise.

"We knew two weeks ago we needed the break, and the ceiling kind of caved in on us with the injuries and suspensions," Bill Laimbeer said. "We knew it was coming. I just didn't think it would collapse this much."

“It was our toughest stretch of the year, there’s no question about that,” Laimbeer added, “Four teams on top of their game and we had to play good basketball and through various circumstances we were unable to get it done.”

The Shock did hold a slight edge at halftime, but a change in defense allowed Becky Hammon to get going offensively for the Silver Stars. She scored all of her 23 points in the second half.

Deanna Nolan scored 25 for the Shock, but Laimbeer said the team will be working on their offense when they return to practice next week. "We're going to take some time off (nine days) and then come back and practice hard, especially on offense. We really need practice time right now."