Sparks End Trip With Victory
The Sparks (11-16), missing regulars Tamecka Dixon, Haixia Zheng and Allison Feaster and finishing up an Eastern trip Wednesday night at Charlotte, doubled the score on the Sting (17-11) in the first half of a 65-52 victory that could have major playoff implications.
The Sparks outscored Charlotte, 31-23, in the second half.
Charlotte’s loss enabled the Cleveland Rockers--also Wednesday winners--to slip into the Eastern Conference lead by half a game. Cleveland plays at Charlotte Friday night.
Charlotte has two games remaining, Cleveland three. The two conference champions will be seeded first and second in the playoff semifinals starting Aug. 22 and will be matched against two wild-card teams.
The Sparks led, 9-2, stretched it to 33-15 and by halftime had doubled the score, 42-21. In the second half, Charlotte never came closer than 10 points, with 2:48 to go.
With nine minutes left, the Sparks were up, 52-26--their largest lead of the season--and had a 39-18 rebound edge.
Lisa Leslie and Penny Toler combined for 41 points, with Leslie adding 14 rebounds. The Sparks outrebounded Charlotte, 42-29.
The Sting was troubled because of a Spark zone defense, with primary scorers Andrea Stinson, Tracy Reid and Vicky Bullett making only 13 of 42 shots. Leslie was nine for 13 and had three assists and three blocks.
Penny Toler had six assists with her 20 points.
Coach Orlando Woolridge, who seeks to have the “interim” part of his title erased in the off-season, was jubilant, even after a 1-3 trip.
“I was really impressed with the way we competed tonight,” he said.
“We just executed what we’d practiced and that was nice to see. We’re trying to build a foundation for next year.”
--EARL GUSTKEY
In other games:
Cleveland 75, Washington 55--Janice Braxton and Isabelle Fijalkowski scored 13 points apiece for the Rockers in their fourth consecutive road victory.
Merlakia Jones scored 12 points in a reserve role for the Rockers, who sent Washington to its 12th loss in 13 games and deprived the Mystics of consecutive victories for the first time this season. The 20-point margin was a season-best for Cleveland, which held the Mystics scoreless for 7:22 of the first half in overcoming a 17-16 lead.
Nikki McCray, the Mystics’ leading scorer, was a late scratch from the starting lineup with tendinitis in her left knee. But McCray came off the bench to score 19 points, 15 in the second half.
Utah 81, Sacramento 71--Wendy Palmer scored 31 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Starzz in a win at Salt Lake City.
Utah took a 5-2 lead and led thereafter. The Starzz (8-19) had 19-point margins four times during the first half and led, 42-25, at halftime.
The Starzz maintained leads of 11 to 21 points during the second half before a three-point play by Sacramento’s Adia Barnes with 15 seconds left made it 81-71.
Utah’s 7-foot-2 center, Margo Dydek, had 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots before fouling out.
Lady Hardmon led the Monarchs (7-20) with 14 points and six rebounds.