It’s a Happy Occasion for Zheng and Sparks in a 93-73 Laugher
At the rate the Los Angeles Sparks are improving, the WNBA race could be over in about three weeks.
China’s Great Wall, 6-foot-8 Zheng Haixia, had a stellar performance Friday night against a tired and undersized Sacramento Monarch team and led Los Angeles to a 93-73 rout before 6,670 at the Forum.
By the time Zheng left to a standing ovation, she had scored 28 points, equaling the one-game high in the WNBA.
For the Sparks (2-2), it was their second consecutive victory. Sacramento, despite the best efforts of Olympian Ruthie Bolton-Holifield (20 points) and former Trojan Pam McGee (16 points), fell to 2-2. The Monarchs were coming off a victory Thursday at home against Charlotte.
The Sparks were masterful, none more so than the 254-pound Zheng, who must now be considered a logical free-throw coach for the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal.
Zheng made all eight of her free throws Friday and has made 16 in a row since the opening game, in which she missed her first two. In 29 minutes Friday, she was 10 for 15 from the field, had 10 rebounds and three blocks.
And she did it laughing all the way. Zheng believes basketball should be fun and asked at least one teammate, Tamecka Dixon, to smile more when she plays.
When Zheng made the score 74-57 with a put-back of her own miss with 5 1/2 minutes left, she grinned on her way back up the court. Seconds later, after she scored again, on a nice pass from Lisa Leslie, the crowd gave her a standing ovation.
When Coach Linda Sharp took her out with 3:41 to go, it was to another standing ovation. She stood and waved a thanks to her new fans.
Asked if she was happy with her team’s victory, Zheng didn’t need interpreter Wendy Chang to respond.
“Sure . . . yeah!” she said, smiling again.
When asked if she had ever shot better from the line, she said through Chang: “Yes, this is common for me.”
Of the crowd’s involvement, she said: “It is very encouraging for me. To have all those friends . . . to repay all [those fans] I must play even better.”
Sharp again saluted her defense, specifically rookie point guard Jamila Wideman, who was given the task of guarding Bolton-Holifield, the league’s leading scorer at 22.0 before the game. Bolton-Holifield had 20, despite Wideman’s nonstop ball-hawking.
“I thought our defense was outstanding and I was very happy with Jamila’s defensive effort on Ruthie,” Sharp said.
Of Zheng’s free-throw marksmanship, Sharp said it was a key component in the Sparks’ decision to pick Zheng in the WNBA’s elite draft.
“Rhonda [Windham, Sparks’ general manager] and I looked at a lot of tape on Haixia, and to us she did two things extremely well--shoot free throws and pass. No, she hasn’t surprised us.”