Fast Finish Goes for Naught as Sparks’ Win Streak Ends

The Sparks’ old nemesis, slow starts, bit them again Thursday night and it cost them their six-game winning streak.

The Utah Starzz (9-15), with the third-worst record in the WNBA, started fast and held off the Sparks, 81-75, despite a flurry of three-point baskets in the final minutes before 4,960.

The Sparks (16-7) gave up too many points and too many fouls early, falling behind by double-digit deficits midway through the first half and then having to sit Lisa Leslie and DeLisha Milton because of foul trouble.

The Sparks’ 6-foot-6 Yugoslavian forward, Nina Bjedov, was four for four from three-point range in the second half--three of them in the final 5:35.

Those three-pointers, along with one by Leslie with 1:26 left, helped the Sparks get to within three points four times in the final 4:11, but they could get no closer.

It might have cost them more than letting Sacramento gain half a game in the Western Conference race too. Mwadi Mabika literally crawled off the court with 12:12 left after spraining an ankle.

Coach Orlando Woolridge attributed the sloppy start to the recently completed 6-0 homestand.

“We got into a rhythm at home where our crowds were lifting us, giving us that charge of energy, and that wasn’t there tonight,” he said.

“I hate losing, but maybe some lessons were learned tonight. We’ve got to start these games like we’re down 15 points. We let Utah get confident and aggressive early, and a confident, aggressive team can beat you.

“I thought we finished the game very well, considering where we had to come back from, but in the beginning, it was like we were in quicksand.”

The Sparks nearly broke their franchise record for fewest points in a half, 21, when they were down at the break, 36-24.

The Starzz got a major lift from Natalie Williams, playing for the first time since missing four games because of an inflamed foot tendon. In 31 minutes, she had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

“It was awesome to be back,” Williams said. “The best part about it was I wasn’t tentative and my foot felt fine.”

But perhaps the game’s biggest play came from the league’s smallest player, 5-foot-3 Debbie Black. She drove the lane for a layup with 38 seconds left, giving the Starzz a 78-73 lead and thwarting the Sparks’ rally.

Still, Utah’s two recent acquisitions from Detroit, Cindy Brown and Korie Hlede, were the difference in the final seconds. Brown made a free throw and Hlede made two more with 10.6 seconds left to put the game away.

The Sparks’ Gordana Grubin had a game-high 20 points. Bjedov had 17.

Meanwhile, Starzz Coach Fred Williams, the former USC women’s coach, received a one-year contract extension, the club announced.

Around the WNBA

Heather Owen made a 15-foot jumper in the final minute to give the Washington Mystics (8-17) the lead for good in a 72-68 victory over the Orlando Miracle (10-14) before 12,763 at Washington. The Mystics blew a 13-point second-half lead, but Chamique Holdsclaw and Nikki McCray made big plays down the stretch to save Washington. Holdsclaw, who finished with 24 points, scored six in a row at one point and had a key rebound in the final minutes. McCray scored 17 of her 24 points in the second half.