Sparks Make It Two in Row by Defeating the Starzz, 102-70

The Sparks (5-4) won their second consecutive game Monday night, a 102-70 victory over Utah (2-5), before 6,259 at the Great Western Forum.

Los Angeles never trailed and had the game in hand by halftime.

A major contributor for Los Angeles came off the bench, the club’s 6-foot-6 Yugoslavian forward, Nina Bjedov, who was five-for-six from the field and had 11 points, three blocked shots (two more than Utah’s 7-2 Margo Dydek) and three assists in 21 minutes.

Her countrywoman, 5-11 guard Gordana Grubin had 18 points, four steals and four assists in 20 minutes.

Coach Orlando Woolridge played 11 players at least 12 minutes, and was delighted with his Yugoslavian players.

“All my players know I’m a game-situation coach,” he said. “If you come off the bench, and you play well, you’re not coming out. And both our Yugos did that.”

Bjedov’s minutes were a demonstration of that. She came in early in the first half after starter DeLisha Milton was called for two quick fouls. And Bjedov’s play limited Milton’s time to 13 minutes.

Bjedov had shown in two earlier games a mid-range jump shot as good as any teammate. Monday, she amplified it.

In the first half, she was four-for-four from the field. In the second half, Bjedov displayed a capable floor game.

She passed from the top of the key to Lisa Leslie underneath the basket. Leslie’s basket put the Sparks ahead, 70-48.

Only 32 seconds later, Bjedov found Leslie from the high post for a 72-48 lead. Woolridge may have finally found a third player to team with Leslie and Milton in his high-low post game.

“We could see that Utah is not a good zone team, so when they went to zone, I knew I could shoot or by being outside Lisa would have space inside,” Bjedov said.

“This was good game for us. We played good.”

Natalie Williams’ 28 points and 12 rebounds were game highs, but the Starzz couldn’t match the Spark speed in the transition game, giving up 22 points on breakaways. It was Utah’s third consecutive loss.

Another strong Spark defensive effort produced 30 Utah turnovers.

Penny Toler, also off the bench in relief of point guard Ukari Figgs, had her most productive game, scoring 21 points. She also had five assists.

Leslie had 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Sparks closed the first half with a rush, pulling away for a 52-36 lead on a 7-0 run, capped by Toler’s three-point basket seconds before halftime.

Utah made several runs to get back in the game in the first half, all led by Williams, who had 20 points and seven rebounds at halftime. But none of her teammates had more than five.

With Los Angeles ahead, 24-10, Williams halted a near-four minute Starzz scoring drought with a power move inside, a 10-foot baseline jump shot and another inside move during which she was fouled and made the free throw to close the gap to 24-17.