SAN FRANCISCO -- It all came crashing down for the Sparks on Saturday night.
The Golden State Valkyries beat the Sparks up in a virtuoso defensive performance. Too bad for the Sparks that they weren't the equivalent of a zombie apocalypse. The Valkyries took the win, 72-59. Yes, the Sparks didn't even reach 60 and considering that they went 100 or more in five of their last six games, the Valkyries' defense was very impressive.
Coach Lynne Roberts took note of that.
"One, you have to give their defense credit. I think they did a really good job," Roberts observed. "Made us a little rushed. As I said before the game, they played so hard.
"And two, we just didn't hit shots like we normally have been. I don't think we took bad shots," Roberts continued. "We got to the bucket a little more in the second half. We were more aggressive. We found ways at halftime to work on how to get the ball into the paint and score. But we still didn't shoot from three well. And that happens, sometimes. There's games like that. Unfortunately, it was tonight, so I think we had an off-shooting night from three. And you got to give their defense credit."
How off were they? The Sparks and Valkyries each shot 34 threes. Los Angeles made eight while Golden State put in 12. That's a 12-point difference.
"I think we just were not as aggressive as we usually are," Sparks guard Rae Burrell said. "So I think that was something that we kind of affected ourselves. And then it put us in rotation. And then we was out of position. So it just is us needing to be more aggressive from the jump and, you know, make them do what we want to do instead of giving them that space to do whatever they kind of want to do."
When asked if it was kind of an anomaly for the team, Coach responded.
"Bad shooting nights happen. They happen to every team, you know, that relies on paint and three. Like you're going to have a night where it's just not falling. And the worst thing we can do is to dwell on it and second-guess ourselves, second-guess what's been working, and second-guess the work we put in as individual players and not trust your shot. It's going to happen.
"How mentally tough we are will determine what the next game looks like," Roberts continued. "And I believe in this group. And I know we lost tonight and tip the hat to Golden State. They beat us. But there's no panic or like, oh, no, what's this mean? It means we didn't shoot well. Turn page, re-attack."
Los Angeles only scored 23 points in the first half while G. State scored 33. The Sparks started off the second half with seven in a row. They were even able to cut the deficit to 45-43 but the Valkyries scored eight straight and never looked back.
The Sparks were led by Dearica Hamby, who scored all 15 points in the third quarter. Julie Allemand and Rae Burrell each scored 10. As for the Valkyries, Veronica Burton went for 16-5-5 while Cecilia Zandalasini had 14. Janelle Salaün finished with 11 points.
No rest for the weary as the Sparks are back at it on Sunday night against the Seattle Storm. The Sparks go down to 14-16 and will take residence in the 9th spot just outside of the playoff picture.
