Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson didn’t just beat the New York Liberty, she attacked them early and buried them late.
Jackson dropped 17 points in a scorching first quarter and finished with 24 overall, capping the night with a fearless, twisting game-winner through traffic at the buzzer. Her performance lifted the Sparks to a dramatic road win in Brooklyn and cemented what’s becoming clear game by game: she’s stepping into stardom.
“Nothing like this one, honestly,” Jackson said after the win. “This was just the icing on the cake for us. Going 3-0 on the road is big time. I feel like we are peaking at the right time.”
She opened the game on fire, hitting shot after shot while the Liberty scrambled to adjust to a hot Sparks starting lineup. Jackson had it all clicking, her confidence was shining at Barclays, and even after cooling off slightly in the second half, she delivered when it mattered most.
“Rickea got us going in the first half, she was unconscious,” said Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts. “The rim was huge so that was great, and then she hit that last shot.”
With about 5 seconds to spare, Jackson hit a high-arcing floater in a crowded lane as the clock hit zero, and it wasn’t luck. It was poise under pressure, the kind of moment that separates good players from stars. And Jackson, now in her second year, is making that leap in real time as the Sparks keep improving.
“I feel like we’ve just grown together as a team,” she said. “It takes time to learn the system. So I feel like just watching countless film and sticking together, that’s why everyone is getting confident at this point.”
Her certainty is leading the way as the Sparks now have a five game winning streak. From year one to year two, Jackson’s game has sharpened. She’s attacking with control, reading defenses faster, and playing like someone who knows she belongs in big moments.
What she did against the Liberty wasn’t a highlight, it was a headline. Rickea Jackson is no longer just a young talent with upside. She’s a go-to weapon. And if the Sparks are finding their groove in a battle for a playoff spot, she’s the reason the volume’s turned all the way up.
