Sparks Improve in First Victory but Attendance Takes Step Back
On the night the Los Angeles Sparks recorded their first WNBA victory, performance was up by a wide margin but the crowd count at the Forum was down by an even wider margin
Before an announced 6,397--about 8,000 fewer than in their opener last Saturday--the Sparks shook off an 0-2 start and easily beat the winless Charlotte Sting, 74-54.
For Los Angeles this time, no second-half slumps. No coming apart under full-court pressure.
This time, Linda Sharp’s team was patient on seemingly every possession, played the transition game with zest . . . and they were led, finally, into the win column by 22-year-old Kansas rookie Tamecka Dixon.
Dixon, the team’s 5-foot-9 second-round draft pick, spurred the team to early big leads with torrid shooting and a crisp floor game in the first 20 minutes.
She had 16 points in 16 minutes while driving the Sparks to a 41-23 halftime lead--including a running, 16-foot jumper at the halftime horn.
She was six for eight from the floor--including two for two from the three-point arc.
With Dixon and guards Jamilla Wideman and Penny Toler getting the ball inside to Lisa Leslie (19 points) and Zheng Haixia (10), the Sparks hammered the Sting (0-2) in the paint early, taking leads of 6-0, 13-4 and 27-13.
Of course, the Sparks did all that for 10 minutes in a 102-89 loss at Salt Lake City on Monday night, quickly swooning after dominating Utah early.
Not this time. Not with Leslie, Haixia and Daedra Charles dominating Charlotte’s big women, Vicky Bullett and Rhonda Mapp, in the paint.
When it was over, Sharp ran into the tunnel, grinning . . . and was swallowed up in a victory hug by the 6-8 Zheng, who had not a word of English to contribute to the victory party but clearly was as happy as Charles, who simply screamed as she ran down the hallway to the locker room.
A 40-minute defensive effort, Sharp said, produced the team’s first victory.
“It was our defense, primarily,” she said. “Aggressive, tough defense and the fact we wanted to win.
“We denied passes all over the court, got excellent post defense and we got a great effort from Tamecka.”
Dixon, in her third pro game, drew the toughest assignment, against Charlotte’s Andrea Stinson, who had played five years in Europe. Dixon held her to 10 points.
“If I can get into the defensive flow of the game, I seem to play well offensively, too,” Dixon said.
It was Dixon’s show Wednesday night until she pulled up with a calf cramp with 12:26 to go. She hopped of the court but later returned to the game.
The Sparks got solid bench help from 6-5 Heidi Burge, 25, a Palos Verdes product who played at Virginia. In 13 minutes, she had four rebounds, two steals and a block.
WNBA Notes
The Sparks cut one player and added another Wednesday. Cut was six-foot Travesa Gant of Lamar University (‘94), the club’s fourth-round pick in the college draft. She had played 13 minutes in the first two games. Gant was replaced on the 10-player roster by Heidi Burge, whose twin Heather played at Virginia (‘92). Also Wednesday, Los Angeles signed guard Trise Jackson (Long Beach State, ‘92) to the developmental squad.