SAN ANTONIO - Dan Hughes is rarely at a loss for words. Even he admits that.

As the coach of the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars, Hughes motors his mouth on the sideline and adds a constant narration to every practice. In the offseason, he provides fill-in color commentary for Spurs broadcasts.

But when asked about guard Becky Hammon and the defining moment of her inaugural year with the Silver Stars, Hughes goes speechless.

"Well," Hughes says, then chews on a long pause, "there are just so many."

And that's exactly what Hughes bargained for when he masterminded a draft-day trade last spring that brought Hammon to the Silver Stars from New York.

Hammon's impact on the franchise extends far beyond her ability to turn the loquacious Hughes into a lead-tongued mute - but even that alone is something.

Behind her, the Silver Stars engineered their first winning season, won their first playoff series and filled the AT&T Center with more than 15,000 dizzy fans for their Western Conference

finals opener against Phoenix.

For that performance, Hammon has been chosen as the San Antonio Express-News Sportswoman of the Year.

"She stepped in right where we needed her," Hughes said. "And she really became the face of our team."

Prying Hammon away from the Liberty was nothing short of a coup for Hughes. She had been with New York since 1999, had her face on a Times Square billboard and had a sandwich bear her name at the famed Carnegie Deli.

The old saying around the Liberty was that people in New York knew it was summer because little girls started wearing Hammon jerseys and ponytails.

And San Antonio immediately plugged into Hammon's crowd appeal.

The fan shop at the AT&T Center sold out of her jersey on three different occasions, and team officials are now fielding inquiries from the Hammon faithful about how to acquire her jersey for the Russian team she plays for this offseason.

On a popular WNBA fan message board, the Hammon thread has generated more than 143,000 page views and 4,000 posts since being created in late September.

"People appreciate her," Hughes said. "They love watching her play, and they get what kind of genuine person she is."

But Hammon's following is rooted in her on-court panache, something that was developed on the cement slab outside of her family home in rural South Dakota.

The ball-English and deft change-of-speeds Hammon uses to defy defenses were originally crafted so she could avoid the metal bar that obscured her path to the basket.

Not everyone noticed, though. Hammon was not recruited by a major college program and went to Colorado State. Then, after becoming a Naismith finalist, she wasn't even drafted into the league - the Liberty signed her as a training camp free agent.

So, it became Hammon's career path to always prove people wrong, and she took that mind-set with her to the Silver Stars, a franchise that had never won more than 13 games in a season.

"I understand what it's like to not have any expectations," Hammon said. "I related to that with the team. No one knew what we might be able to do. I sort of savor being in that position."

With the Silver Stars, Hammon was fifth in the league in scoring at 18.8 points a game, led the league with 5.0 assists - both career highs - and was second behind Lauren Jackson in the MVP voting.

Hughes felt all of those numbers would be possible when he acquired Hammon, but he said he couldn't have imagined how seamlessly Hammon would make the transition.

"She blended with us instantly," Hughes said. "That's pretty remarkable. She was made to be a part of us."

But what Hammon remembers is that final game at the AT&T Center, a 102-100 loss to the Mercury in Game 1 of the conference finals.

She calls the result a "thud" but relishes the raucous crowd that viewed it.

"If you would have told people at the beginning of the season that we would fill that arena, they would have laughed," Hammon said.

"But we did, and I can't wait to build on that."