Kristi Toliver and Candace Parker shine as Los Angeles Sparks edge out Minnesota Lynx - WNBA Recap
On Thursday night Los Angeles Sparks’ guard Kristi Toliver matched her season’s best 29 points performance and helped her team to edge out Minnesota Lynx, 96-90 here at Staples Center.
The game went right down to the wire as Lynx hung tough especially in the 4th quarter. But courtesy of Candace Parker’s 11 points at the death, Sparks improved to an 11-6 record in West.
Toliver coming into the game had her pride at stake, as she went scoreless in the last match against San Antonio Silver Stars. Determined to wash off the stigma, she netted a game high 29 points to go with 6
assists for Los Angeles.
“It's completely crazy that I didn't even shoot the ball that last game,'' Toliver said. ``That's not who I am. That's not who I want to be. Today I just kind of shifted that and showed everybody that this is
who I am and this is what I do. I'm back on track.''
Parker was also on song as she recorded a double-double; she added 28 points and had 13 boards, while guard Alana Beard tallied 10 points to go with 4 assists.
On the other hand, Lynx skidded down to a 2 game losing streak for the 1st time in this season. Albeit, they had 5 players posting in double figures but that couldn’t suffice to subdue
Sparks.
Guard Seimone Augustus marshalled all Lynx with 18 points and Maya Moore poured in 14 points. She said after the game.
``We were starting to get more aggressive but it was just too late,'' Moore said. ``We dug ourselves too big of a hole. We just couldn't find the rhythm and that attention we sort of needed on the defensive end.''
Forward Rebekkah Brunson barely missed her double-double with 11 points and 9 boards while reserves Candice Wiggins and Amber Harris recorded 10 points each in Minnesota’s 3rd loss of
16th WNBA season.
Lynx managed to take a 12-7 lead early in the opening frame. They could only stretch it down to 19-11 when Sparks tied the scores at 21 each using an 10-2 burst. Toliver served a trey and inched Los Angeles out
of the stalemate, 24-21 at the end of opening frame.
Brunson opened Lynx account in the 2nd period with a layup and narrowed the gap to 24-23; however Sparks rebutted with a 10-2 spurt and claimed a 34-25 advantage. Minnesota clawed that
off with a 15-6 run and tied the scores at 40 each.
Milton-Jones came up with a jumper for Sparks and initiated a 9-3 run at the end of opening half. As the teams headed towards their locker rooms Los Angeles were on the top with a 49-43 advantage.
Midway into the third, Sparks managed to claim a double-digit 62-52 lead. They pulled off an 8-nothing burst and ballooned their advantage to 70-52. Lynx came up with a 5-1 spurt and trimmed down the deficit
to 71-57. However Ogwumike and Beard came up with a layup each for Sparks and capped of the frame at 75-57.
With 5:43 remaining, Sparks were enjoying a15 point, 82-67, lead when Lynx pulled off an 11-2 run and reduced the gap to 84-78. Parker came up with a flurry of freebies for Sparks and reclaimed their 10 points,
88-78 lead.
In the ensuing passage Minnesota displayed a resilient show and with only 2.3 clicks in hand they narrowed down the gap to 94-90 using a huge 12-6 spurt. However, they couldn’t come any closer. In the dying moments
of the game, Parker netted a pair of deuce after being fouled by Wiggins and concluded the game at 96-90.
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