Sparks Briefly Catch Comets, Then Tail Off at the End, 84-76
Orlando Woolridge knows what his team is capable of. Now it’s a matter of performing that way for an entire game.
The Sparks (3-3), battling back from what seemed like a runaway loss, crawled off the deck to take a late one-point lead over the Houston Comets Tuesday night, only to fall short, 84-76, amid a flurry of missed three-pointers in the final minute and a half.
Los Angeles, before a crowd of 10,479 at Compaq Center that included Shaquille O’Neal, played Houston tough despite a 36-point performance by two-time WNBA player of the year Cynthia Cooper and a 25-point night by Sheryl Swoopes.
But for a 10-minute stretch in the second half, Spark defender Tamecka Dixon held Cooper scoreless. And during that time, Los Angeles crept closer, climbing back from a 59-49 deficit and eventually taking a 74-73 lead on a layup by Dixon with 3:35 left.
It all unraveled quickly after that, as Lisa Leslie missed twice from long range in the waning minutes, and Ukari Figgs also came up short, but the Sparks felt they had made at least a small statement.
“We’re good at the big stuff--this team can score and rebound,” Woolridge said. “We’re talented and we work hard, but we’ve got to put together 40-minute games. Against a great team like Houston, you can’t turn it on and off because it’s too hard to catch up.”
The Comets (5-0) seemed to lose their edge in the second half, possibly affected by an emotional halftime ceremony honoring the leader of their two championship teams, Kim Perrot.
Perrot, just back from Mexico after undergoing “alternative treatment” for lung and brain cancer and showing the effects of her battle, was awarded her 1998 championship ring, with her teammates at her side.
The Sparks’ Mwadi Mabika started play as if she wanted her breakthrough game against the best team in the league. The six-foot guard from Congo hit a three-pointer, a 16-foot jump shot, a baseline jumper and a layup in the first eight minutes before Swoopes began to apply the defensive clamps.
In the second half, former ABL star DeLisha Milton began dominating inside while Leslie played the high post.
Milton scored all of her 13 points in the second half and grabbed 10 of her 12 rebounds.
Until Dixon turned up the heat on her, Cooper was almost unstoppable. So was Swoopes. Cooper was 11 for 26 from the field and 13 for 14 from the line.
Swoopes was nine for 18 from the field and had five rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.
Woolridge stressed during a long Monday practice that his defenders were to force Swoopes to her right and Cooper to her left. It didn’t work. Cooper--except for her brief second-half disappearance-- drove to the basket almost at will.
And Swoopes repeatedly went to her left and pulled up for the jumper.
In other games:
Sacramento 79, Minnesota 62--Kedra Holland-Corn led five players in double figures with 15 points and Ticha Penicheiro added 14 assists as the Monarchs (4-2) defeated the Lynx (2-2) before 5,038 at Sacramento.
Detroit 75, Charlotte 69--Jennifer Azzi scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half to lead Detroit past Charlotte (1-3) before 7,212 at Auburn Hills, Mich.
The Shock (4-2) also got 19 points from Sandy Brondello, and 13 from Dominique Canty, who was making her WNBA debut.
Phoenix 79, Washington 76--Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil, coming off the bench for the first time this season, scored 19 of her 23 points over the final 12:18 as Phoenix (2-3) overcame a 17-point second-half deficit to beat the Mystics (1-5) before 11,060 at Washington.
Orlando 71, Rockers 62--Sheri Sam scored a career-high 22 points and Shannon Johnson added 21 as Orlando (4-3) defeated the Rockers (0-6) before 6,676 at Cleveland.