SPARKS TODAY

at Houston, noon PDT, Channel 4

Site--Compaq Center.

Radio--KPLS (830).

Records--Sparks 1-0, Comets 0-0.

Record vs. Comets (2001)--2-1.

Update--Last year the Sparks used this televised matchup as the springboard for a season in which they won the WNBA title. Houston, which ended up with its most regular-season losses (13) and was swept by L.A. in the first round of the playoffs, would like to return the favor. Eager to turn the game into her own message is Comet forward Sheryl Swoopes, the league’s 2000 most valuable player who missed last year because of a torn knee ligament. The Sparks’ Latasha Byears, who served a one-game suspension, returns.