Rookie Riquana Williams shines as Tulsa Shock upset Los Angeles Sparks 91-75 - WNBA Recap
On Tuesday night Tulsa Shock grabbed their 2nd victory of the season. The win came against a much experienced and successful team, Los Angeles Sparks, who were 10-4 coming into the game as compared to a 1-11 Tulsa record.
Tulsa led by as many as 23 points in the 1st half and cruised to a 91-75 win at the BOK Center.
Shock’s rookie Riquana Williams had a career night as she netted a season high 27 points, an effort which saw her go 3-for-6 from the 3-point line. Ivory Latta scored 21 points and dished out 8 assists while Temeka Johnson and
Amber Holt netted 11 points each.
Tulsa coach Gary Kloppenburg was all praise for his squad.
“Tonight was very rewarding after some of the tough games we've been through,'' Kloppenburg said. ``We wanted to be physical and give them some resistance from the start of the game, and our players followed the plan all night.''
Sparks had 3 players hitting double scoring index. Kristi Toliver netted a team high 21 points to go with 7 assists, while forward Nneka Ogwumike scored 12 points. Reserve April Sykes tallied 11 points in Los Angeles 5th
loss of the season.
The game started evenly as midway into the opening frame, Tulsa were having a fragile 10-7 lead. Sykes netted one from down town for Sparks and tied the scores at 10 each, but Tulsa bounced back with a huge 13-2 burst and rocketed
their way out of the stalemate. By the end of 1st frame the hosts were up with 23-12.
Tulsa ballooned their advantage to 33-18 early in the 2nd stanza and then reeled off another 15-7 burst to conclude the opening half. As the teams headed towards their locker rooms Tulsa were on the top, with a 48-25
advantage.
Sparks tried to do some damage control in the third, as they opened the period with a 22-13 run, but that couldn’t help them much as Tulsa skittled another 11-nothing burst for a 72-47 lead.
The huge lead allowed Shock to cruise through the final quarter, as with 06:24 on clock they were enjoying an 81-54 advantage. Los Angeles tried to harness the lead with a 21-10 garbage time spurt, but that could only bring them
as close as 91-75 by the end of time.
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