Monarchs Take the Starch Out of Sparks

Back against the wall again.

Or more accurately, backs against the wall again.

It will take another home rally for the Sparks to keep on pursuing a third consecutive title because the league’s best road team can no longer win there.

A 13-4 on the road in the regular season, the Sparks are now 0-2 away from Staples Center in the playoffs after dropping a 77-69 decision to the Sacramento Monarchs in the Western Conference finals Friday night, before 13,986 at Arco Arena.

Sacramento, which had four players in double figures led by center Yolanda Griffith with 17 and point guard Ticha Penicheiro with 16, has two chances to eliminate the Sparks, starting Sunday in Los Angeles.

“[The series] is still a long way from over,” said Sacramento Coach John Whisenant, who knows the Sparks also lost their first-round playoff opener to Minnesota but came back to win that series. “They will be tough in Los Angeles. But I’d much rather go down there 1-0 and see what we can do.

“We beat L.A. Sacramento loves to beat L.A. And the Maloof family really likes to beat L.A.”

Considering the Maloofs also own the Sacramento Kings of the NBA, the motivation is clear.

The Sparks, on offense Friday, were more of a two-woman team. Lisa Leslie scored 25 points, DeLisha Milton had 20, and they each had seven rebounds. But no other Spark starter had more than eight points, and the rest of the team made eight of 36 shots (22.2%).

Spark Coach Michael Cooper wasn’t happy with his team’s effort, but said, “Credit the Sacramento Monarchs because they have been the [WNBA’s] best basketball team since the All-Star break.”

Rebounding was on the Spark coaches’ minds when it was decided to put DeLisha Milton on the Monarchs’ DeMya Walker, in part to keep Walker off the offensive boards, and try to keep Lisa Leslie out of foul trouble, something that plagued her during the Minnesota series.

“DeMya can get a little wild sometimes,” assistant coach Ryan Weisenberg. “Dee usually handles that thing pretty well, and she has been playing great defense in the playoffs.”

That worked much of the night. Whenever Milton was on her, Walker (11 points, four rebounds) was neutralized. But what the Sparks didn’t work out too well was how to keep the rest of the Monarchs from dominating the glass.

Thanks primarily to its 18-9 rebounding edge in the first half, Sacramento went from a 20-20 to a 37-26 lead. Everyone from starting forward Tangela Smith (14 points, 10 rebounds) to reserve center Chantelle Anderson pitched in as Sacramento was beating L.A. at its game: grabbing missed shots and running a productive fastbreak.

The Sacramento player who hurt the Sparks the most, however, was Penicheiro. Primarily a passer and defender, Penicheiro was actively looking to shoot and, after making the Monarchs’ first field goal of the game (a three-pointer), her confidence stayed high.

“L.A. plays me a little different than other teams,” said Penicheiro, who had 16 points, equaling her highest scoring total this season. “I know they sag off me and double-team Yolanda. I knew they were going to play me that way because they always do. I had to be aggressive today.”

Sacramento finished the half ahead, 43-34. The Sparks relentlessly chipped away in the second half and went in front, 62-60, with 6:39 to play. But 20 seconds later Penicheiro made her second (and last) three-pointer to put Sacramento ahead to stay.

The Monarchs wound up with a 30-28 edge on the boards.

“We can’t sacrifice any rebounds to them,” Milton said, “because if they don’t score baskets they’re going to the foul line.”