Proud mother wants more for her daughter

No matter the outcome of the WNBA finals, Annie Christopher, the mother of San Antonio Silver Stars’ Sophia Young, is jubilant that her daughter played a crucial role in seeing the team to this stage, the first in their history.{{more}}

The Silver Stars started their unfamiliar journey last Wednesday night, with a meeting against the Denver Shocks, who have been there before, on three occasions, in the best of five series.

Young shot the winning basket last Saturday in game two of the Western Conference finals, which gave San Antonio a life line.

The shot counted for more than its two points worth, as only 1.3 seconds was left on the clock.

Young, turnaround and from 14 feet, shot the ball to give her team, a narrow 67-66 victory.

She was the lead scorer for San Antonio, with 21 points, and added 11 rebounds for good measure.

The Sparks was a whisker from closing out the series, having won game one 85-70.

Despite being thousands of miles away from the action on Saturday, Christopher, in recounting the nervous tension, told SEARCHLIGHT,” At first I was shocked; my hands could not move, with cold bumps and my raised hair.”

But when the joy struck her, Christopher said: “…then I started to laugh and jump up”.

“I was so happy,” recalled the mother of six.

Christopher said soon after the match, she received a call from another of her daughters Jolene, who resides in the USA, and they joined in the spontaneous celebrations via the telephone.

Christopher said that Young called her on Sunday and said she did not know how it happened but she just did it.

The Silver Stars with the energies high put all doubts to rest when they won the series 2-1 on Sunday.

Young scored 18 points, as the Silver Stars won 76-72.

“I am proud of her to see that she comes from a poor family and has gone up there and making a name for herself”, Christopher said.

The 24-year-old Young entered the big league, the WNBA, in 2006.

Christopher, who witnessed her fourth child play in the NCAA finals in 2005, while Young was a student at Baylor University, continues to pray for her daughter’s well being.

Christopher referred to Young as a very quiet child.

But Christopher is of the view that more can de done here to recognise Young in the land of her birth.

Christopher said in her adopted home, there are billboards of her daughter.

“I was surprised to see a big poster of So-so (Sophia’s play name) when you enter Waco, while none of that is here”, Christopher said.

Young was named the 2007 International Athlete at the annual National Sports Awards, but Christopher thinks that the big accolade of Sports Personality is eluding her daughter for some unknown reason.

Young, from the Central Leeward town of Layou, who left these shores in 1999, is among the players selected to challenge for the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award.