Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles had a chance on Sunday to make a Sparks sequel at Crypto Arena to Friday’s epic win over Toronto but could not stop Tempo’s twosome starting backcourt, Brittany Sykes and KiKi Rice from editing a new ending with a 106-96 victory.
Kelsey Plum scored the first four points and doubled that by end of the period to start this movie off right for the Sparks but there were multiple jump cuts with Tempo’s Sykes scoring all over the court to lead her team to a six-point advantage, 27-21. Los Angeles still was able to keep close in the game due to outscoring Toronto in the paint, 14-8 plus accumulating
“We’re not in rhythm offensively right now…,” Sparks Head Coach Lynne Roberts said. “It makes KP have to do too much, and she was phenomenal today, but we got to have other people share the load and be fearless and move the ball.”
Second quarter both teams dialed in better on defense, however that led into a barrage of fouls called throughout the game including a three-point play drawn by Rice for Tempo to enter halftime up 49-40 as Dearica Hamby misfired at the buzzer to respond with a somewhat three-point heave from the top of the key.
“I’m here to to learn from the the players around me, from the vets that have a ton of experience and just be able to absorb to take everything in and whenever, I need to step in because, you know, Julie’s out…,” Rice said to FI360News during postgame presser. “[Julie Allemand] She’s obviously a great player and if I need to step in, she’s out there coaching me and I’m just doing what the team needs me to do.”
Rice did exactly what her team needed to do playing thirty-five minutes with zero turnovers in her first start this season, rare for rookies in this league especially considering the scrutiny around this season’s league number one draft pick for Dallas Wings coming off the bench.
“Her [KiKi Rice] poise is really something that I admire just as a rookie, and as a human. Not many people can go into a starting lineup, their fourth game of their career, and play 35 minutes and have zero turnovers,” Sykes said to FI360News in the postgame presser. “You could just add to the list of everything that she’s done in these four games. So, just keep going, man. Just keep going…”
Plum tested Rice’s poise on defense and even cast the rookie in a couple of welcome to the WNBA highlights though her spark was not enough to slow Tempo from scoring 30 points in third period. The Sparks went on a 13-5 run to cut the lead into single digits, 76-67 with 26 seconds remaining in the quarter.
“In this league, it’s not a matter of if you get punched, it’s when you get punched. You have to be able to take it and punch back,” Plum said. “There are a dozen muscles that we continue to grow, and we’re going to need it because this is the toughest league in the world.”
Plum led Sparks with 28 points on 9-of-14 from the field and seven assists. Plum is the only player in WNBA history to begin a season with four games of at least 25 points while shooting 55.0% or higher from the field. The veteran All-Star recorded her fourth consecutive game with at least 23 points, marking the first streak of that length in her career. Plum continues to lead the WNBA in scoring, averaging 26.8points per game while shooting 59.4% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range. Plum scored 20 points in the second half, but Sykes one up her with 24 points including 15-of-15 from charity stripe.
“I was confident going into it, if we could just stay together and execute the plan even though we still scored a lot of points,” Tempo Head Coach Sandy Brondello said to FI360News. “We found a way to get the win today. So really proud. We’re under man, but Kiki stepping up was fantastic. And I mean, this one [Sykes] here, that was pretty special.”
Sparks (1-3) will hit the road for the first time in the regular season and match up against Phoenix Mercury on May 21 at Mortgage Matchup Center.
