Sparks Fizzle in New York
Remember when WNBA critics were saying that summer basketball wouldn’t work, that people wouldn’t pay to watch an indoor sport on beautiful summer days?
The New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks disputed that notion Saturday afternoon. In fact, it may have been an affirmation that basketball is now almost a year-round sport, at least in America.
Before 16,236 at Madison Square Garden--the third-largest WNBA crowd of the season--the Liberty beat the Sparks, 69-57, pretty much the way it did in the June 21 league opener--by making the key steal, grabbing the key rebound and making the key shot when most needed.
The Sparks (5-8) played like that too--but only for four minutes of the second half, when they fought back from a 17-point deficit with a 10-0 run. It was the only time they were able to quiet the crowd.
Three-point shots by Sophia Witherspoon and Teresa Weatherspoon and a basket by Rebecca Lobo soon had New York (12-2) in control again, 61-45, with 5:31 left.
The Sparks made a late run, highlighted by two three-point shots by Penny Toler and a basket by Linda Burgess to make the score 62-57.
New York ran the shot clock down twice and missed its shots, but got the rebound both times. Then Weatherspoon made a mid-court steal with 1:25 to go, virtually clinching the victory.
The Olympic team matchup of L.A.’s Lisa Leslie and New York’s Lobo was pretty much a wash. Leslie had 12 points and seven rebounds, Lobo 11 and six. However, Lobo’s drive and left-handed layup over Heidi Burge late in the first half was the game’s most athletic play.
Witherspoon, who made three of four three-point baskets, had a game-high 24 points.
As the WNBA reaches its halfway point, a New York runaway is under way.
The Liberty began the season with seven in a row and have now won five in a row.
The way the Sparks’ Penny Toler saw it Saturday, this is a team with an extra gear.
“We made some runs on ‘em, but every time they needed a great rebound, a great steal or a great bucket, they got it,” she said. “My hat’s off to ‘em. . . . Right now they’re playing like a great team.”
WNBA Notes
Fired Spark coach Linda Sharp said she knew her job was on the line before Wednesday, when General Manager Rhonda Windham replaced her with assistant Julie Rousseau. “Rhonda told me Tuesday she wanted me to resign and become a vice president in charge of basketball operations and I told her no, that I was committed to coaching the team,” Sharp said. “When we came back to L.A. [after losing to Sacramento], she called me and said she had to talk to me. So she came to my apartment, we talked for two-and-a-half hours, and she fired me.” Sharp said she will look for a chance to enter the broadcasting field. . . . The Sparks play at Charlotte Monday night.