SPARKS TODAY

Opponent--New York Liberty.

Site--Madison Square Garden, New York.

Time--1 p.m. PDT.

TV--Channel 4.

Records--Sparks 5-7, New York 11-2.

Update--This is an eye-catching matchup of head coaches. In April, after 12 seasons as women’s coach at Ohio State, Nancy Darsch was fired. Three months later, she’s riding high with the Liberty as coach of what easily has been the WNBA’s best team. For the Sparks, a year ago Julie Rousseau was coaching Los Angeles high school basketball. She landed an assistant’s job with the Sparks and Wednesday afternoon was named interim head coach after Linda Sharp was fired. In her debut, the Sparks routed Houston, 77-52. There was locker-room talk afterward of carrying the momentum into Madison Square Garden today, but that’s a tall order. In a balanced league, Darsch’s team has had something special from opening day, when it beat the Sparks at the Forum, 67-57. That is team chemistry. Two-time Olympian Teresa Weatherspoon, a 5-foot-8 guard who claims her best sport is baseball, is the chief chemist. Thursday, for example, she led New York to an 80-54 victory over Utah. On a night when five of her teammates scored in double figures, Weatherspoon had no points. But she had seven assists, five steals and three rebounds. Between 10,000 to 12,000 are expected in attendance today.