SPARKS TONIGHT

at Sacramento, 7

Site -- Arco Arena.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Sparks 9-3, Monarchs 6-5.

Record vs. Monarchs -- 1-0.

Update -- The Sparks are the league’s hottest team after completing a 6-0 homestand with a 75-55 victory over the Houston Comets on Wednesday. Now comes the second meeting with the defending league champions, this time on Sacramento’s home court. The Sparks’ last victory there was July 29, 2004, in double overtime. Lisa Leslie continues to carry the scoring load at 21.6 points a game and is nine points from being the first WNBA player to score 5,000 in league play. (Detroit’s Katie Smith reached the 5,000-point career milestone last year, but 1,431 of those points came in the ABL). Sacramento center Yolanda Griffith, the Monarchs’ all-time leading scorer (3,440), has announced she will retire at the end of the season.

-- Mike Terry