Sparks come up short in an OT loss to Valkyries

SPARKS

Golden State’s Veronica Burton, front, and the Sparks’ Kelsey Plum (10) both react after Plum was called for a foul during Monday’s game. Harry How / Getty Images

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By John W. Davis

Correspondent

LOS ANGELES — Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby combined for 44 points but the Sparks could not take advantage of a golden opportunity to put together their first winning streak of the season, losing 89-81 in overtime to the Golden State Valkyries at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night.

Plum had 24 points and seven assists and Hamby had 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but the Sparks were outscored by an 11-3 margin in the extra period.

Plum missed what would have been a game-winning layup as time expired in regulation.

Sparks center Azurá Stevens made 1 of 2 free throws to put L.A. up 79-78 with 4:08 left in overtime. Golden State’s Veronica Burton and Kayla Thornton made consecutive layups for a 82-79 lead. Plum made a jumper to cut to it 82-81, but Golden State rookie forward Janelle Salaün’s putback layup made it 84-81 with 1:59 to go in overtime. Thornton’s 3-pointer in front of Golden State’s bench extended their lead to 87-81 with 38.6 seconds remaining.

Plum missed a desperation 3-pointer before the Sparks turned the ball over on a backcourt violation. Burton was fouled with 16.4 seconds to go and made both free throws to secure the 89-81 victory.

The Sparks led 75-74 with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter. Salaün drew a foul and made both free throws to put the Valkyries up 76-75 with 47.5 left in regulation.

Plum delivered a step back 3-pointer to give the Sparks a 78-76 lead with 37.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Thornton missed a layup but Temi Fágbénlé grabbed the offensive rebound and rookie guard Carla Leite’s finger roll tied the game at 78 with 25.1 seconds to go.

The Sparks are 3-7 overall, including 1-2 against Golden State this season.

For the Sparks, it was the second game with forward Rickea Jackson back in the team’s season-opening starting lineup after she missed two games while taking personal time away from the team recently. The Sparks are 2-2 with Jackson in the starting lineup. She finished with eight points.

“It’s great to have Rickea back,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said before the game. “Her length and size that was a definite impact for us against Dallas. She’s just a long, athletic player.”

Coach Roberts said Jackson’s defensive versatility is just as important as her offensive impact.

“She’s coming along and again like I said it’s great to have her back,” Roberts said. “We’re a lot better when she’s on the floor.”

Golden State (4-5), which was led by Salaün with 21 points and eight rebounds, began the game on an 11-3 run. Thornton had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Leite had 15 points. Fágbénlé added 14 points and 13 rebounds. Monique Billings added 10 points.

However, Plum and Hamby both scored nine points early and the Sparks battled back and trailed 25-23 at the end of the first quarter.

“For us it’s control the controllables,” said Golden State coach Natalie Nakase, who graduated from Marina High as the 1998 Orange County player of the year, before playing college basketball at UCLA and later becoming an assistant coach with the Clippers and the Aces.

“We can control our destiny as crazy as that sounds but that’s what I told them before Vegas (98-65 win on June 7) — if we just stick to the game plan and we’re organized then we’re going to give ourselves a great chance to win,” Nakase said.

The Sparks kept pace as Plum’s 3-pointer tied the game at 38 with 1:26 to go before halftime. Hamby made both free throws to go up 40-38 with 1:03 remaining in the first half. Hamby’s buzzer-beating layup put the Sparks up 44-40 at halftime.