Los Angeles, CA – With the bright lights on National TV on ESPN for the night cap of WNBA triple header the Sparks shinned with a 94 – 71 victory. Not a surprise Nneka Ogwumike #30 was the guiding light scoring 17 points to lead all scores.
“We had a slow start and we didn’t get to low or too high,” said N. Ogwumike
Behind new head coach Curt Miller the Los Angeles Sparks showed that with a limited bench with only 9 players in rotation they could gel and put points on the board.
When the Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris is present to kickoff the 2023 WNBA Season for Los Angeles Sparks you have no choice but to show off.
After a slow start by the Sparks the Phoenix Mercury took a first quarter lead 22-19 after a 9-0 run to jumpstart this game. The much anticipated return of Brittney Griner was huge and she didn’t disappoint scoring 11 points in first half and finished the game with 18 points and 5 rebounds.
Balance scoring with 5 players scoring in double figures with Chiney Ogwumike #13 15, Lexie Brown #4 14, Karlie Samuelson #44 13 and rookie Zia Cooke #1 14 points.
“We waived Samuelson before the season knowing that we would be able to be resigned as hardship signee.” said Miller, “She is just a sound fundamental player with great mechanics.
The Sparks bench players stepped up and you can see why coach Miller brought in so many veterans to compete for a roster spot and compete on the court.
The Sparks really took care of the basketball tonight with only 6 turnovers in the game. On the defense side of the ball they made the Mercury force up shots late in the shot clock. It’s always good to start their offense with a few defense stops.
“To our credit we dug ourselves out of double-digit deficient to winning double-digit victory,” said Miller.
Next up the Sparks will host the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday May 25th with 7pm pst tipoff.
