Las Vegas, NV – Los Angeles Sparks Rickea Jackson came out hot in Las Vegas sweltering 110 degrees weather at the Michelob Ultra Arena, Wednesday night, hitting a total of four threes, all in the first quarter, and finishing with 30 points to lead the Sparks, 97-89, over Aces.
Jackson scored 14 points in the first quarter onto a career high on efficient shooting, going 11-17 from the field goal, 4-8 from behind the arc, and 4-5 from charity strip.
“Rickea [Jackson] hit a couple threes that made everybody feel really confident and that set the tone,” coach Lynne Roberts said. “Her confidence and aggressiveness, I think that everyone fed off of it…”
Following Jackson’s display of versatility for a dominant performance, her teammates backed her up with four of the five starters posting double digits, while the team overall shot 50 percent including an impressive 85 percent from deep and 78 percent from the field for that 29-point first quarter scoring buffet of three pointers, fast break points along with a plethora of shots made off Sparks’ assists.
“Everybody played loose and aggressive, and the plan was to really move the ball,” coach Roberts explained. “[Kelsey Plum] did a good job of that, finding other people.”
Sparks defensive effort came also with early high intensity effort against Aces superstar Aja Wilson, who scored the first point of the game for the Aces, hitting one of two free throws but struggled most of the game to find her footing before abruptly leaving in the third quarter with a head injury.
Sparks used their versatility and positionless offensive style to their advantage in this game matchup, getting more of their team involved early in the game, beyond their usual top two scorers, Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby.
On the other end, it appeared the Aces dared Jackson to shoot early in the game as she quickly embraced the challenge warming up with three consecutive triples to give her team a 11-9 advantage.
Odyssey Sims and Plum dished to their front court a lot more instead of looking to shoot first and rewarded them with giving the ball in opportune scoring positions that kept the Aces on the back of their heels. Hamby, Jackson and Azurá Stevens all got transition layups in the open court after hustling up the floor, surpassing Aces’ front court defenders.
Despite early foul trouble for Stevens, she bounced back in the second half finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Her frontcourt duo partner, Hamby, finished with 19 points too along with eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
“Dearica [Hamby] again almost with a triple double, seven assists, I don’t know many centers in this league getting those kinds of numbers,” coach Roberts said.
Aces were led early by their starting guards Chelsea Gray and Jewel Lloyd, who came in shooting a career low 20 percent as Aces looked early to get her rolling though Jackie Young would soon have to take over this responsibility to keep her Aces in the game. Young finished with a game high 34 points off 50 percent shooting from the field.
Young also guarded her former teammate, Plum, most of the game, keeping her second return to her former team’s arena relatively uneventful as Plum finished with only 14 points but shelled out nine assists and went nine from nine at the free throw line.
“After each game, win or lose, we just continue to build and we were just focused on making the right plays,” Hamby said reiterating Jackson’s statement. “We have a very, very talented roster and so, if we continue to make the right plays, we’ll make the right shots.”
LA (4-7) will continue on the road able to take this win as a much-needed confidence booster into a tough, undefeated Minnesota on Saturday.
