Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Reigning player of the week Lisa Leslie picked up where she left off scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 rebounds as the Sparks moved to 3-1 with a 64-55 win over the Sky in the expansion team's first national TV appearance.

Chicago appeared out of the game at halftime after after only scoring 20 points on 17% shooting. But a third quarter rally where the Sky outscored the Sparks 20-12 closed the gap. The Sky would get within three with 5:32 left in the game, but the Sparks made 14 free throws in the last quarter to seal the victory. Jia Perkins and Amanda Lassiter paced Chicago with 12 and 11 points respectively.

The Sky were missing the presence of Elaine Powell who did not play because of shin splints. ''We try to emphasize positive things and stay with what's working for us,'' Sky coach Dave Cowens said. ''We came alive in the second half and we took it up a notch, but 24-second violations killed us -- we had four of them.''