Sparks Tussle, Then Lose
The Seattle Storm and Sparks did something rarely seen in the WNBA--they fought.
With 9:51 left in the Storm’s 79-60 win Thursday, Michelle Marciniak of the Storm and the Sparks’ Latasha Byears were ejected.
Byears was dribbling on a fastbreak when Marciniak fouled her. After Byears tossed the ball from close range off Marciniak’s face, Marciniak came at Byears with her hands up before Byears shoved her to the ground.
Spark Coach Michael Cooper, who already had a technical for arguing about the physical play, charged onto the court. He was not ejected.
The incident followed a play in which Sparks’ star Lisa Leslie and the Storm’s Lauren Jackson battled for a rebound and Leslie elbowed Jackson in the chest. No foul was called.
“Sometimes it takes a play like that for L.A. to know they’re not going to intimidate us on our court,” Marciniak said.
Jackson scored 21 points and made three of Seattle’s franchise-best 13 three-pointers.
“This is the first time in my three years here that we got our [behinds] just totally kicked, and it don’t feel good,” Cooper said. “But now we know what all the other teams have felt like that we’ve done this to.”
Leslie had 21 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots for the Sparks (14-3), who lost for the second time in four games. Mwadi Mabika scored 17 points.
“We play them again. I feel bad for them,” Leslie said.
It was a much better finish for Jackson than the last time the teams played in Seattle. She scored in the opponent’s basket in an 80-68 Sparks’ victory June 18.
“Playing like we did showed us we have a lot of talent and we can play with anyone,” Jackson said.
Seattle rookie Sue Bird, caught yawning before the game after a late-night flight back from the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, had 13 points and five assists, and helped the Storm (9-10) take an early lead.
Bird won an ESPY award Wednesday for top college female athlete.
The Sparks averaged a league-leading 80.8 points in their previous five games but were held 19 points below their season average.
Reserve Felicia Ragland scored 19, making five of six three-point shots for Seattle.
The Storm made 66.7% of its shots in the first nine minutes and 42.3% for the game. It made 52% from three-point range.
“They were hot,” Leslie said. “If [Storm Coach] Lin Dunn had subbed in she probably would have hit a basket, that’s how good they were.”
Leslie missed five of her first six shots, including an airball from close range.
Seattle built its biggest lead, 40-22, on a three-pointer by Ragland with 3:48 left. The Storm made nine three-pointers in the first half and led, 45-23, at halftime.
“This game really proved to us and the WNBA that we can really play,” said Dunn, who believes Seattle still has a good chance to make the playoffs as one of the Western Conference’s top four teams.
The Sparks committed 19 turnovers.
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In other WNBA games, Gordana Grubin made a three-pointer with 40.7 seconds left, helping the Phoenix Mercury beat the Houston Comets, 58-52, before 8,495 fans at Phoenix. The Comets’ winning streak ended at 10 games.... Lady Grooms made a layup off an inbounds play with 6.5 seconds left, and the Sacramento Monarchs ended an eight-game losing streak by beating the Cleveland Rockers, 71-69, before a crowd of 8,551 at Sacramento.