DeLisha Milton-Jones leads Los Angeles Sparks to a 96-91 win over New York Liberty – WNBA Recap
On Tuesday night, DeLisha Milton-Jones spearheaded the Los Angeles Sparks, who beat New York Liberty 96-91 at Staples Center on the 13th anniversary of the Women National Basketball Association.
Milton-Jones scored a game-high 27 points, shooting 9 for 14 from the field. She also had 6 rebounds on the night. Candace Parker scored yet another game winning double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds while Tina Thompson
contributed 14 points in the third straight victory for Los Angeles.
Cappie Pondexter led New York with 22 points, six assists, and two steals while Plenette Pierson matched 15 points and four rebounds. Kia Vaughn had 14 points and a team high 12 rebounds while Essence Carson punctuated 13 points
and six rebounds for New York, who have now lost four consecutive games.
The star of the show, Milton-Jones, opened the first quarter with a pair of free throw for Los Angeles but New York quickly responded and raced to an 18-14 advantage, with 04:48 remaining in the first. Pondexter led this rally
by hitting seven points, including a three-pointer.
Parker scored five straight points to put the Sparks ahead by one, 19-18 however Liberty struck back and opened up a 25-21 advantage in the ensuing passage. Milton-Jones and Kristi Toliver combined for the last seven points of
the period as the Sparks secured the first quarter 28-25.
The see saw battle continued in the second quarter as well. Neither team held on to the advantage for a lengthy period as the topsy-turvy half culminated with a final score line of 53-all. Pondexter scored 15 of her points in the
first half and set the stage for an intriguing second half.
Liberty opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run to make early inroads. New York stars looked to mount a fight back, but were countered every time. They never managed to surpass the Los Angeles lead during the period and trailed
by five, 76-71, heading into the fourth.
Liberty finally succeeded to come close late in the fourth quarter and made it a one-point contest, 92-91, with 01:41 to go. However, their offense dried up at the end of the period and New York scored four answered points in the
last 29 seconds to win the game.
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