Sparks Salvage Win--and Maybe Coach’s Job

It was easy to say in the aftermath of a rare Sparks’ victory that Tamecka Dixon’s three-point basket with 7:34 left in a tie game Wednesday was the ignition point, the play that catapulted Los Angeles to a 77-68 victory over the host Washington Mystics.

Or did embattled Coach Julie Rousseau have something to do with it too?

During a timeout right after Dixon’s play gave the Sparks a 59-56 lead, Rousseau went to her megaphone voice, the one you can hear in the third row.

“Go for the jugular!” she yelled.

“Get out there and compete! Step on ‘em--and don’t let ‘em get up!”

And that’s exactly what her team did, forcing five critical Washington (2-18) turnovers over the next five minutes and silencing an MCI Center crowd of 14,137.

The win enabled the Sparks (7-13) to close their trip at 1-2 and saved Rousseau’s Forum employment . . . at least until this afternoon.

Team president Johnnie Buss called another meeting of his coaching staff for today, upon the team’s arrival home. Late Wednesday, Buss said of Rousseau’s status: “The crisis is over, for the moment.”

Rousseau seemed relieved afterward but insisted she didn’t give her job status a thought in the stretch, when her players crafted a 14-8 run in the critical minutes after Dixon’s three-point basket.

Asked afterward if she felt her job was on the line against the WNBA’s worst team, she said: “No one said anything, but I’m sure . . . I mean, an expansion team . . .

“But I’m beyond worrying about my job. All I want is for these ladies to learn how to win together, and to enjoy it. We’re getting there--tonight we played intense defense the last eight minutes.”

On a night the Mystics lost their seventh in a row, the Sparks received major contributions from all their starters--particularly Pam McGee and Dixon.

McGee, like her teammates, couldn’t hit a barn door early, when Los Angeles was two for 18 in the first 10 minutes. But in her best WNBA game, McGee finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, and Dixon with 20 points. Lisa Leslie, in 31 minutes, was five for 17, had 13 rebounds, 13 points and a game-high five assists.

“I wasn’t shooting well, so I decided I’d pick it up defensively and look for Pam on offense,” Leslie said.

Dixon made the major plays, beginning at a point when it seemed the Mystics might put the Sparks away. Keri Chaconas’ three-point basket at 9:46 gave Washington a 56-50 lead.

Dixon, who had just scored on a drive, got a free throw and the three-point basket that gave the Sparks the lead for good, then scored on two consecutive drives for a 64-58 lead at 4:30.

Notes

The Sparks play Phoenix Friday at the Forum. . . . The Mystics lead the WNBA in attendance--Wednesday’s 14,137 was over their 11,239 average. . . . At Cleveland, Isabelle Fijalkowski had 17 points and Eva Nemcova added 15 to lead the host Rockers to a 75-67 victory over Sacramento despite a WNBA-record 16 assists from the Monarchs’ Ticha Penicheiro. It broke the assist record of 13 set by New York’s Teresa Weatherspoon on July 21 against the Sparks. The Monarchs (6-15) cut a 13-point deficit to 60-55 with 4:10 remaining but could get no closer.