Sparks Find the Going Rough in Overtime Loss
The Los Angeles Sparks’ two-game winning streak ended Monday night, thanks to a three-quarter-court zone press that first stole their basketballs and then broke their hearts.
Led by Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson, USC stars 11 years apart, the Houston Comets used a 9-4 run in overtime to post a 71-66 victory before an announced crowd of 8,301 at the Summit.
Los Angeles (2-3) led early, at the midway point and late, but when the Sparks had to both protect the ball and score in the crunch, they couldn’t. The Comets (4-1) wouldn’t let them.
Lisa Leslie had a game-high 21 points and 16 rebounds, and had a few brief stare-downs with former USC teammate Thompson (13 points, seven rebounds).
“Lisa and I are dear friends, former teammates and all that . . . but when we play against each other, that friendship is interrupted for 40 minutes,” Thompson said. “We laughed and hugged as soon as it was over.”
Los Angeles Coach Linda Sharp started the same team that produced two 20-point victories last week, but in a fast-paced transition game, gave 6-foot-8 Zheng Haixia (four points in 16 minutes) an early hook.
“Early on, there were two and three players hanging all over Haixia and she wasn’t getting any calls,” Sharp said. “We needed more quickness in there too, so I took her out.”
Still, Los Angeles seemed en route to its third consecutive victory, leading by seven with 3:40 to go. Then the dynamic 5-10, 34-year-old Cooper and 6-1 Wanda Guyton took command. A Guyton drive cut the Los Angeles lead to 61-59 with 1:35 left.
With 54 seconds left, the Sparks’ Tamecka Dixon fouled Guyton on an inbounds pass. She made it 61-60.
Leslie had two free throws with 23 seconds left but her first was an airball. The second gave the Sparks a 62-60 lead.
The tying shot in regulation was a drive by Guyton, with nine seconds left.
Then Houston set up its overtime zone press. While Leslie was now at her best--garnering defensive rebounds on Houston’s first three possessions--Cooper and Kim Perrot were making life miserable for Spark point guard Jamila Wideman in the backcourt.
Wideman gave L.A. its last lead, 66-64, with a layup with 1:25 to go.
Then Houston clinched it with an easy Cooper breakaway and an even easier Thompson layup.
Houston, WNBA’s leading defensive team, held Los Angeles to 34% shooting and forced 20 turnovers.
WNBA Notes
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With New York’s 4-0 start, Rebecca Lobo has not lost in 99 games, a streak dating to Connecticut’s 1995 35-0 NCAA title run and her stint on the 60-0 U.S. Olympic team. . . . ESPN analyst and UConn coach Geno Auriemma: “I’m getting tired of hearing ABL people saying how their league is better than the WNBA. How would anyone know that? No one saw their games.”