Sparks Are Continuing to Show Signs of Life
The good news, Coach Orlando Woolridge said afterward, is the Sparks’ team growth, most recently demonstrated by an 87-67 win over Utah at the Forum Friday night.
He didn’t need to point out the bad news: There are only two more games left.
The Sparks (12-16) won their second consecutive game and defeated Utah for the third time this season, before an announced crowd of 8,297. They showed cohesion, crisp transition on offense and an effective zone defense that reasonably contained Utah’s big players, 7-foot-2 Margo Dydek and 6-5 Elena Baranova on a night the Starzz needed much more than their combined 25 points.
And more than Wendy Palmer’s game-high 23 points.
“I was put on the spot, but so was this team,” said Woolridge, talking of his 5-3 mark since taking over the team July 31. “We’re growing together, we’re getting a good feeling with each other. When you present a game plan to your players and they execute it, that’s growth. These players are doing their best to carry something good over into next season.”
Lisa Leslie led the Sparks with 18 points and 14 rebounds, Mwadi Mabika had 16 points and nine rebounds, and point guard Penny Toler had 11 points and a team-record 14 assists. The Sparks forced 22 Utah turnovers and the Starzz shot 34% to Los Angeles’ 51%.
There were no lead changes Friday. The Sparks twice saw big leads dwindle away, but ran away from the Starzz (8-20) in the last 11 minutes.
The Sparks were up 8-0, 17-5 and 21-7 early, but Utah fought back for a 23-23 tie. Then Los Angeles frittered away a 12-point lead in the second half, letting the Starzz close to 62-56 with 11 minutes remaining.
After that, Utah went nearly five minutes without scoring while a Toler-led fast break produced a 79-58 lead.
The Sparks’ only downside came Friday morning, when backup center Haixia Zheng visited Dr. Stephen Lombardo to see about playing at season’s end. The 6-8 Haixia, who had an arthroscopic knee procedure six weeks ago, was told by Lombardo to forget about playing this season. This news came a day after it was decided starting guard Tamecka Dixon was done for the season too.
Other Games
Jennifer Gillom became the second WNBA player to reach the 1,000-point mark, scoring 23 points as the Phoenix Mercury routed the Detroit Shock, 84-59, before 14,398 at Phoenix to stay alive in the playoff race. Phoenix (16-11), which won for the fourth time in six games, pulled within a game of Charlotte (17-12) for the fourth and final playoff spot. Charlotte lost to Eastern Conference leader Cleveland, 85-72, before 14,715 on its home court.