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Liberty Are Happy Campers As Sparks Take Fourth Quarter Hike
Posted Wednesday, July 2, 2008
 LA's Candace Parker defends NY's Erlana Larkins. Photo by Donald Barnat. |
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The visiting New York Liberty engineered a 22-point fourth-quarter swing Tuesday to defeat the Los Angeles Sparks 89-78 at Staples Center. Liberty forward Shameka Christon led her squad with a career-high 28 points, including 18 from behind the three-point line, also a career high.
The game was an early 12:30pm start for Camp Day, and earplugs were helpful as 10,388 screaming young campers witnessed the Sparks’ second consecutive double-digit collapse, although LA remains atop the Western Conference with a 10-5 record. New York improves to 8-7, and stays in third position in the East.
Assisting Christon with scoring duties, Janel McCarville had 15, Cathrine Kraayeveld 14, and Leilani Mitchell added 13 for the Liberty.
Former Narbonne High guard Loree Moore had nine assists, tying her season best number.
Rookie phenom Candace Parker led LA with her seventh double-double of the year, with 18 points and 10 rebounds. She also contributed four blocks, three assists, and three steals. DeLisha Milton-Jones added 15 points, and Lisa Leslie had 12.
Leslie was in foul trouble the entire game, playing only 11:06 minutes altogether and fouling out with 6:55 remaining in the contest, which cancelled out the Sparks’ initial advantage in the paint.
Liberty coach Pat Coyle commented, “In the fourth quarter when Lisa Leslie picked up her sixth foul, that was huge. When we spread the floor, it opened it up for the drives and our shooters.”
Meanwhile Criston swung the momentum New York’s way, as after a three-point first quarter, she went 7-12 from the field, including 5-6 from three-point land, and was 6-7 at the charity stripe.
“My teammates were definitely looking for me and getting me the ball,” Christon said afterwards. “I’m just an unconscious shooter. I just shoot the ball.”
In the losing team’s locker room, the Sparks were thinking hard about their inability to close out two games in a row.
“A lot of things that we’re doing on the defensive end are helping the other team beat us by not picking up our defensive assignments, and not rolling our shorts up and digging deep to finish a game that we already had won,” Milton-Jones said. “Then when we go on the offensive end, there’s no continuity. There’s confusion. At this point in the season we should be clicking on all cylinders, but right now there’s a lot of guesswork in it.”
The Sparks get another chance to put their puzzle together on Thursday at 7:30pm PT when the Minnesota Lynx come to town. The Liberty continue their road trip the same day at Seattle at 7pm PT.
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