Candace Parker sensational as Los Angeles Sparks ease past Seattle Storm at home – WNBA Recap
A game in which they led from the start, the Los Angeles Sparks came out with comfortable 74-61 against the Seattle Storm here at the Staples Center on Tuesday night.
The Sparks were led by the exploits of Candace Parker, who notched up a double-double on the night with 21 points to go along with 10 boards, 6 blocks and 4 assists in the game. She was followed up by Kristi Toliver who contributed 18 points on a 6 of 8 shooting performance from the field. Alana Beard also played well for 13 points.
Ann Wauters tried her best from the Seattle side to manage 15 points on the night. Tina Thompson and Camille Little chipped in 13 and 10 point respectively while Katie Smith came off the bench to rack up 11 points in the ball game. However despite having four players crossing the double digit mark Storm never managed to make their way back into the game.
Sparks held an upper hand in the rebounding department in the game 35-24 with 8 of them coming on the offensive glass. They also held the Storm to shoot the ball 38.6% from the field and forced them to commit a high number of 19 turnovers in the game.
The opening 8 and half minutes of the ball game saw the action remain close with both sides converting possession into baskets, making the score 13-15 at the 2:27 mark. LA managed to close out the proceedings of the first quarter on a 7-3 run to take a 22-16 lead.
Sparks continued their scoring prowess at the start of the second quarter putting together a 8-3 run which helped them take an 11 point lead. However Seattle responded to that rally with an 11-3 spurt to turn this contest into a one possession game at the 2:04 mark.
The remaining time in the first half saw the Sparks add four points to their tally while for the Storm; Thompson hit another three, making the score 37-33 at the half way stage.
Sparks started the second half with a bang. They opened up the proceedings with a 7-3 run to take 44-36 lead. The next several minutes saw the Seattle side respond with a 6-2 run to cut the deficit down to 4; however Los Angeles were able to hold on to their advantage and by the 1:14 mark in the third, they were able to extend their lead back up to 9 points.
Inside the final minute of the quarter, Toliver hit a three and Parker backed her up with another shot from the land of three, enabling the Sparks to take a 15 point lead.
Toliver commented on that offensive sequence after the game.
“That was huge,'' Toliver said. ``You could definitely see Seattle feeling very defeated at that moment.''
This set things up for LA to close out the game with ease. They led by double figures throughout the final period. Even with the things looking easy for them, the LA team did not let up and matched Seattle in every aspect till the final seconds of the game and took this one by a margin of 13 points.
Tags: