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Minnesota Shooting Spree Downs Sparks
Posted Friday, July 4, 2008
 Minnesota's Candice Wiggins battles for a rebound with LA's Raffaella Masciadri. Photo by Donald Barnat
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Los Angeles Sparks continued their string of fourth-quarter collapses Thursday evening, as the visiting Minnesota Lynx throttled their hosts in the final period with blistering 69.2 percent shooting to secure a 88-70 victory at Staples Center before 8,587.
The Lynx outscored LA 32-15 in the last frame, with the Sparks shooting only 29.4 percent from the field in the quarter, giving LA its third-straight loss at home and knocking the Sparks down to second place in the Western Conference at 10-6, now a half game behind San Antonio (11-6). Minnesota (9-8) remains in fifth in the West.
Seimone Augustus led Minnesota with a season-high 29 points, and was assisted by rookie Candice Wiggins with 19 and Anna DeForge with 11. Rookie center Nicky Anosike brought down 10 rebounds in the contest.
Lisa Leslie led LA with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Candace Parker and Marie Ferdinand-Harris both added 12 points.
The deciding fourth quarter started out with the Lynx up by one, 56-55, and that was as close as the Sparks were allowed in the last 10 minutes. Minnesota ran off 15-straight points in the first 5:54 minutes before the Sparks could score on a Leslie layup. Of those 16, Augustus and Wiggins together had 10. The dynamic duo from the land of lakes overshadowed and outscored LA’s power combo of Leslie and Parker 23-6 in the deciding period.
“We played a good game the first half,” LA head coach Michael Cooper said, after the loss. “When you get a player like Seimone Augustus that can get it going, defensively we were changing it up -- playing zone -- but she got hot. And when a player gets hot like that, it’s tough to stop them.”
Cooper’s Minnesota counterpart, Don Zierden, commented, “You come in here and get a win against a talented team like that, and you just take it and run out of the gym. I am very pleased with sneaking one out of here. We coaches like to take a lot of credit, but it was one of those nights when we made shots and they couldn’t throw it into the ocean.”
Los Angeles tinkered with its starting lineup, giving 5-2 rookie point guard Shannon Bobbitt and guard Raffaella Masciadri their first starts of 2008. Both shot poorly, going a combined 1-12 on the evening, but Bobbitt’s speed did inject energy for the Sparks, and she finished with three points, four assists, and six rebounds.
Los Angeles now possesses the longest losing streak (three) in the Western Conference, and will try to break that on Sunday in a 6:30pm home game against the defending WNBA champions, the Phoenix Mercury. The game will be televised on FSN West. Minnesota next moves up the coast to Seattle for a Saturday 7pm contest.
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