YPSILANTI, Mich. -- It wasn't exactly a surprise development for Bill Laimbeer.

The Detroit Shock coach fully expected his team to go out this season and win their third WNBA championship since 2003.

And that's exactly what they did.

"This is what we thought was going to happen when we started the season. We knew we had a good team, and we knew we had heart," Laimbeer said after the Shock completed a three-game sweep of the San Antonio Silver Stars with a 76-60 win on Sunday.

Laimbeer knows a thing or two about winning, having been the coach for the Shock's previous two championships and also earning a pair of NBA crowns as a player with the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons.

But the path to title No. 5 for Laimbeer wasn't always clear.

The Shock had been one of the league's best teams for much of the year, but sputtered after losing top post player Cheryl Ford to a season-ending knee injury in July.

A trade for proven veteran Taj McWilliams-Franklin during the Olympic break was just what Detroit needed.

It won its last five games of the regular season and six of seven after the monthlong hiatus and carried the momentum into the playoffs.

And McWilliams-Franklin, who had 13 points in the Game 3 clincher, was a huge part of the team's championship drive.

On Sunday, she keyed a fourth-quarter run that put the game out of reach.

The Shock led 49-45 after three periods, and they extended it to 55-47 on McWilliams-Franklin's one-hander off the glass 3 minutes into the fourth. She hit a pair of free throws less than a minute later to give the Shock their first double-digit lead of the game.

"It's amazing being here and being part of this group," she said. "From the day I came in, they were about winning the title.

"Coach Laimbeer told me that's what I was here to help them do -- nothing more and nothing less."

The victory provided a bittersweet moment for Ford, who wept in the corner of the locker room afterward.

"This is really hard, because this is two years in a row where I haven't been able to be out there for my teammates," she said. "I wanted us to win, but I wanted to be out there with them."

Laimbeer made a point of including his injured star during the postgame celebration, handing her the championship trophy after he accepted it.

"That meant a lot, because it made me feel like everyone still thinks I'm part of this, even though I missed so much of the season and all of the playoffs," Ford said.

Detroit became the second team in league history to win a third championship. Only the Houston Comets, who won the first four (1997-2000), have more. Los Angeles (2001, 2002) is the only other team with more than one.

It was an especially sweet win for the Shock, who let the 2007 title slip away, losing Game 5 at The Palace to the Phoenix Mercury.

After beating San Antonio by eight points in each of Games 1 and 2 in Texas, Detroit returned to Michigan determined to end it right away.

And the Shock did just that, sweeping the league's best regular-season team. And they did it at Eastern Michigan University's Convocation Center, a venue forced upon them because of a scheduling conflict.

The Shock won the 2003 championship at their normal home of The Palace of Auburn Hills and their '06 title at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, also a substitute venue because of a logistical conflict.

For their part, the Shock players couldn't have cared less, just as long as they won.

"We're already trying to figure out where we're going to play next year," said guard Deanna Nolan, the 2006 finals MVP who scored 12 on Sunday.

The 2008 finals MVP was Katie Smith, who had a team-high 18 points on Sunday, including 11 in the fourth quarter.

The Silver Stars had the league's best regular-season record -- including a perfect 14-0 against the East -- and powered their way through the conference playoffs, but came up short in the finals.

Top scorer Becky Hammon was held in check for much of the series and was a non-factor in Game 3, managing only 5 points on 1-for-10 shooting. Center Ann Wauters led San Antonio with 19 points, and forward Sophia Young added 15.

"Detroit was just a little bit hungrier that we were, but it was a special season," said San Antonio's Erin Buescher, who had 3 points off the bench.

The celebrating isn't over yet for the champs, who will be honored at a rally in Detroit today.