LOS ANGELES (AP) -- While the Los Angeles Sparks continue to make
new entries in the Women's National Basketball Association record
book, the Seattle Storm close out their second season with loss
after loss.
The Sparks tied a WNBA record with their 15th consecutive
victory Saturday, defeating the Storm 79-60 as Lisa Leslie made
nine of 10 shots to score 22 points and pulled down 13 rebounds at
Staples Center.
The Houston Comets won 15 consecutive games during the 1998
season.
"I will not say I played great, but I found a way to get things
done," Leslie said. "I did not feel I was on a roll because of
the double-teams coming really hard, but I felt I was able to drive
and make it possible for our other players to score."
The loss was the fourth in a row for Seattle (9-19), which had
been eliminated from playoff contention following Friday night's
64-61 loss to Utah at Seattle.
The Sparks (24-3) were assured of the regular-season Western
Conference championship and home-court advantage through at least
the first two rounds of the playoffs earlier Saturday as Houston
lost at Charlotte, 54-49.
"We're not near as deep and physical," Storm coach Lin Dunn
said. "We don't have a Rhonda Mapp or Latsha Byears coming off the
bench."
Byears had 10 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes, helping
Los Angeles to a 48-30 rebounding advantage.
Seattle led only once, 14-13, 11:42 before halftime. The Sparks
then responded with a 14-1 run, including 10 consecutive points.
Los Angeles led 38-31 at halftime.
Both teams opened the second half by missing their first six
shots. Lauren Jackson's three-point play pulled the Storm to within
six, 44-38, with 13:33 to play. Leslie began a 9-0 run with a
three-point basket and layup, putting the Sparks ahead 53-38 with
11:43 remaining. They led by at least 13 for the remainder of the
game and had 24-point leads twice in the final two minutes.
"I thought we battled as hard as we could against a very fine,
very physical team, very deep team," Dunn said. "I thought Lauren
had a great night. She's learning to adjust to the (physicality)
and not get as frustrated. Unfortunately, we missed some good looks
on the perimeter that really could have kept us in the ball game."
Jackson, the first player chosen in the WNBA Draft, scored a
season-high 26 points for the Storm (9-19). Second-year guard Michelle Marciniak came off the
bench to add a career-high 15.
Tamecka Dixon added 14 and Nicky McCrimmon 11 off the bench for
Los Angeles.
The Sparks dominated in shooting and rebounding. Los Angeles
made 32 of its 68 shots (47.1 percent), while the Storm made 23 of
68 (33.8 percent).
"I feel we did a good job of coming out and being strong and
playing our game plan, and we played good team basketball," Leslie
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
Seattle team page
Los Angeles team page
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