Sparks Lose Battle of Best

Guarding Lisa Leslie can be a full-time job, but it didn’t rattle Taj McWilliams-Franklin.

The Connecticut forward scored 22 points, matching her season high, and grabbed nine rebounds Thursday night to lead the Sun to a 72-63 victory over Leslie and the Sparks. Leslie finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds but struggled early against the Sun defense.

“[Leslie] creates unique challenges because they give her the ball almost every single time up the court,” McWilliams-Franklin said. “I don’t think there’s any other team whose player touches the ball more. Whether she’s swinging it or trying to score, the ball goes to her and then the rest of the players.”

In a matchup of the WNBA’s top two teams, the Sun (23-6) got out quickly to put the Western Conference leaders in a deficit from which they could never come back.

The Eastern Conference leaders split the season series with the Sparks (23-8), who were playing their seventh of eight consecutive games on the road.

Play was stopped twice when a thunderstorm caused lights in the Mohegan Sun Arena to dim.

When the game resumed under generator-run lighting, the Sparks began to rally against the Connecticut reserves. An 8-0 run fueled by four points from Leslie cut the deficit to three before the Sun pulled away.

The Sparks were without Chamique Holdsclaw, who was out because of a foot injury.

“We made a good run at it,” Sparks Coach Joe Bryant said. “Then, we just made some mistakes defensively. I always preach offense comes and goes, but defense is everlasting.”