The understaffed Los Angeles Sparks fell to the Seattle Storm 67-98. Sparks guards Odyssey Sims, Kelsey Plum, and Julie Allemand did not compete in the matchup.
The franchise recently signed guards Shey Peddy and Grace Berger to rest-of-season, hardship contracts. Berger signed hours prior to the game.
“[Peddy] and [Berger] coming in, they did the best they could do,” said Sparks center Azurá Stevens. “We showed signs of fight and we have to build on that.”
Forward Rickea Jackson led the Sparks with 17 points and Stevens secured a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike scored 26 points and forward Gabby Williams almost made a triple-double with 11 points, seven assists and eight steals.
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“What makes Seattle tough is they’ve got a lot of vets and they’re disciplined with what they run,” said Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts. “They’re very execution driven.”
The rookies stepped up against the Storm vets with guard Sarah Ashlee Barker scoring 12 points and seven rebounds while forward Liatu King came off the bench with six points.
Barker noted how Plum coached her throughout the matchup, reminding her to have fun and to not get down on herself if she missed a shot.
“[Plum has] been a leader pretty much to me ever since I got in L.A., just having her voice and she has so much experience,” Barker said. “I’m going to listen to anything that she says.”
Sparks forward Sania Feagin also saw almost 11 minutes of playing time, shooting 0-4 from the field.
“I wanted to give her a shot here, see if she could bring some life, we needed some life,” Roberts said. “She didn’t connect on those shots but she still brought life.”
Despite shooting at 27.3 percent in three-pointers, the Sparks outrebounded the Storm 42-27. The 13 rebounds the Sparks made led to 18 second-chance points.
“We have key people out but we still have enough to still execute and get things done and it starts defensively,” Stevens said. “Just build on the positive things, not everything was a loss tonight.”
The Sparks will face the Minnesota Lynx in an away game on June 21 at 5:00P.M.
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