The Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA proved once again that they are not ready to beat the elite teams in the WNBA. Last Sunday the Sparks (7-10) lost to the first place Phoenix Mercury (12-3) 94-89 before 8,064 fans at the Staples Center. In the end the Sparks kept the game close and they had several opportunities to pull away from the best team in the WNBA but close only counts when you play horseshoes.
The Sparks were led by a spectacular performance by their superstar Candace Parker’s 27 points and point guard Kristi Toliver’s 26 points. Parker also had six assists and grabbed eight rebounds.
“Candace is going to bring it,” Sparks coach Carol Ross said. “She’s a great competitor. What l like about her game today is that she played great offense and defense. Some of the things she does still amazes me.”
One of those amazing plays happened in the first half when Parker blocked a shot, got the rebound, drove the length of the court, went behind her back with the dribble and made a layup.
Despite Parker’s 27 points and Toliver’s 26 points they could not overcome the 32 points and six assists by Diana Taurasi of the Mercury. Taurasi, the former University of Connecticut star, hit the game-winning, three-point shot that put the Mercury up by four points with eight seconds to go in the game.
“Diana makes big plays,” Mercury Coach Sandy Brondello said. “She’s a great player. That what great players do. She has a will to win like no other player I have ever seen. She works harder that anyone I have ever coached. She is the best women’s player in the world.”
The Sparks finished the first half of the season in fourth place in the tough Western Conference. They are currently on a four game road trip. The trip started last Tuesday against Minnesota, on Friday they play New York at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday they face Connecticut at 10 a.m. The Sparks will end the road trip next Tuesday against Indiana at 5 p.m. They return home Thursday July 17 against Washington at 7:30 p.m.
Although the Sparks continue to suffer heart-breaking losses, coach Ross is looking for that light at the end of the tunnel.
“We are still a man down until we get Candice Wiggins back,” said Ross. “When she comes back it will be interesting how we use our rotations as we go into the second half of the season. When we get back to our full rotation with all of our guards healthy we will be a hard team to beat. Guards make the world go round so we look for- ward to getting all of them back on the court. We realize that we are close to being a good team but we must be more consistent.”
In other pro-sports news the first-place Dodgers start a four-game-home stand against the San Diego Padres tonight at 7 p.m. The Friday and Saturday games will also start at 7 p.m. with the Sunday game’s opening pitch scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. On Monday the Dodgers will be off for four days during the All-Star break.
The Dodgers will send four players to the All-Star classic on Tuesday July 15. Second baseman Dee Gordon, outfielder Yasiel Puig and pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke will travel to Target Field in Minneapolis to play in the game.
