Los Angeles Sparks 31 vs. Tulsa Shock 27: WNBA Game Halftime Analysis
Tina Thompson scored seven points, four rebounds, two steals and a block as Los Angeles Sparks led Tulsa Shock 31-27 at halftime on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
DeLisha Milton posted six points on 3 for 8 shooting from the field and pulled down six rebounds while guards Ticha Penicheiro and Natasha Lacy added five points each for Los Angeles. Penicheiro also grabbed four rebounds, dished
out three assists and stole the ball once.
Tiffany Jackson led Tulsa with nine points, shooting 3 for 5 from the floor and 3 for 4 from free throw line, and nine rebounds. Liz Cambage came off the bench with eight points and three boards for the slumping Shock. She hit
4 for 5 from the field in more than 12 minutes.
Both the teams remained cold from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play. However their stats were nearly the same. Sparks shot 37.5 percent (12 for 32) from the floor and 60 percent ( 6 for 10) from the line while Tulsa shot
36.7 percent (11 for 30) from the field and 60 percent (3 for 5) from free throw line.
First Quarter
Tulsa carried a 5-2 lead early in the first quarter, but Los Angeles raced to a 14 point spurt and went ahead by 11 points, 16-5, with 03:09 to go in the quarter. Jackson finally halted the Sparks surge with a three point play
and cut the deficit to eight at 16-8.
Milton-Jones drove to the rim on the next possession to stretch the advantage to ten points, 18-8, before Jackson slipped in another lay-up to trim the margin back to eight points. With 10 seconds remaining in the opening period,
Lacy hit a free throw to push Los Angeles’ lead to nine points, 19-10, heading in to the second quarter.
Second Quarter
Shock opened the second quarter on a 5-2 run to make it 6-point contest, 21-15, but Sparks scored the next four points to carry a ten-point lead, 25-15, with 06:39 remaining. In the passage that followed, Tulsa went on an 8-2 run,
trimming their deficit to four points, 23-27.
Hoffman however made two free throws and followed with a lay-up to widen Sparks lead to 31-23 with 01:31 remaining in the period before Tulsa scored four unanswered points in the closing minute to show only four down, 31-27, at
halftime.
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