8/26/25 Postgame Notes & Quotes
WNBA Los Angeles Sparks

8/26/25 Postgame Notes & Quotes

Published on August 27, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release


Phoenix Mercury (23-14) at Los Angeles Sparks (17-19)

Game 36 | Aug. 26, 2025 | Crypto.com Arena | Los Angeles, CA | Spectrum SportsNet

Attendance: 10,726

Game Leaders:

Mercury

PTS - Satou Sabally (19)

REB - Alyssa Thomas (16)

AST - Alyssa Thomas (15)

Sparks

PTS - Dearica Hamby (25)

REB - Dearica Hamby (8)

AST - Julie Allemand (6)

Main Takeaways:

Dearica Hamby recorded a game-high 25 points (9-for-12 FG, 7-for-9 FT) and a team-high eight rebounds. This marks the fifth game of her career with at least five steals (5 STL), her ninth 3+ STL game of the season and the 43rd of her career

Rickea Jackson finished with 21 points (7-for-11 FG, 4-for-7 3PT), three rebounds, and one assist in 27 minutes. The Sparks are 8-1 this season when Jackson scores at least 20 points in a game. Jackson (4-for-7 3PT) has now made at least three triples in four consecutive games for the first time in her career, hitting 16-for-28 (57.1%) from deep during this stretch

Kelsey Plum tallied 20 points (7-for-14 FG, 4-for-4 FT), four assists and one steal. The four-time All-Star leads the league in games with at least 20 points and four assists this season (20), six more than Sabrina Ionescu, who ranks second

In her 26th career game, Cameron Brink tied Rebecca Lobo, Sylvia Fowles and Taj McWilliams-Franklin for the 14th-fastest in WNBA history to reach 75 stocks (steals and blocks)

Rae Burrell contributed nine points, five rebounds and one steal

Julie Allemand notched a team-high six assists, accounting for 14 Sparks points

The Sparks shot 47.7% from the field in the contest and outscored the Mercury, 46-42, in the paint

First Quarter:

Forward Dearica Hamby put the Sparks' first points on the board with a layup at the 8:28 mark via an assist from guard Julie Allemand

Forward Rickea Jackson knocked down the Sparks' first three-pointer of the match, closing her team's deficit to 13-11 with 4:59 left to play

Jackson led the Sparks in scoring with 10 points in the first quarter (3-for-5 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) in the opening quarter

In the first quarter of play, Hamby recorded a game-high two steals

Second Quarter:

Hamby scored five points in nine seconds, finishing a layup before stealing the ball from Phoenix in transition and finishing an and-one. The veteran scored a team-high seven points in the quarter

The Sparks went on an 11-2 run to take their first lead of the game, 25-24, with 7:54 left in the quarter

Forward-center Azurá Stevens knocked down her first three-pointer of the game to shorten Phoenix's lead to 29-28

Jackson finished a three-point play to cut the Sparks' deficit to 38-34 with 3:18 to play

Jackson and Hamby each scored a game-high-tying 13 points in the first half, Hamby recorded three steals and Allemand dished a team-high four assists

The Sparks shot 69.2% from the field (9-for-13) and 66.7% (2-for-3) from beyond the arc in the second quarter

Third Quarter:

To open scoring in the second half, Hamby converted a cutting layup off an assist from Stevens at the 8:34 mark

Jackson hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to 54-50 at the 6:31 mark

With 2:23 left in the third, Jackson's driving layup from a Brink assist made the score 63-57, Phoenix advantage

In the third quarter, Jackson completed all of her shot attempts going 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the three-point line. She scored a game-high eight points, also recording one steal and one block in the quarter

Fourth Quarter:

Stevens opened the fourth with a cutting layup off a Plum assist to make the score 68-59, Mercury advantage

Hamby finished at the rim with Allemand's assist to cut into the deficit at the 5:06 mark

With one minute left in the game, guard-forward Rae Burrell completed a cutting layup to decrease the Mercury's lead 88-79

The Sparks got to within six, 88-82, after an 11-4 run

Plum scored a game-high 10 points (3-for-4 FG, 4-for-4 FT) in the fourth quarter

The Sparks shot 9-for-17 (52.9%) from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth

Pregame Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On the importance of winning today's game over Phoenix:

"Obviously our players know [how important this game is], and Phoenix is jockeying for playoff positioning, and so it's important for them too, and we haven't played them in a long time. I think the interesting thing is they're a different team. [Kahleah Copper] didn't play when we played them, [Alyssa Thomas] didn't play here. [DeWanna] Bonner wasn't with them yet. And then the flip side of that is we didn't have Rae [Burrell] or [Cameron Brink]. Rickea [Jackson] didn't play the last time we played them. Julie Allemand [either], so it's two different teams than we were. That part is kind of nice at this point in the season... but they're good. They're loaded. They've got a lot of experience. They play a similar style in terms of [shooting] a lot of threes [and trying] to get out in transition. So, it should be a good game."

On the focus of practice for the end of the season:

"At this point in the season, teams are who they are, right? You are who you are. You're not going to change your identity at the end of August... We worked on rotations and did some stuff, but I want our guys to lean into what they know they're good at. I think confidence is super powerful, especially as you're coming into these must-win games. Focus on what you're good at and be elite at it. Be great at it. I think our team has a lot of confidence offensively. We know we can put up points. We had to make sure we're playing hard on defense and following the game plan and all those things. But, I'm trying to pump them up about, 'here's why we're good,' and focus on that. Dive into that. Don't think about what we're not good at, let me worry about that in the off-season, in the training camp."

Postgame Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On the team's execution tonight:

"It seemed a little rushed. We did a good job. [We were] forcing some turnovers, getting some steals, and then we turned it right back over. Trying to play too fast. In the half court, it was okay. We didn't shoot great from 3. I think that's where the difference in the game is. They went 11-for-25, we went 7-for-24, everything else is about the same. Shooting percentage, I've always said, is a direct correlation of shot quality, so maybe we weren't getting the best looks, but I do feel like we typically shoot it better. And there's gonna be games like that."

On the physicality of tonight's game:

"It was physical and I think those are probably really hard games to officiate. Playoffs are coming, and people are like, 'we're scrapping for our lives', and they're playing hard. We're all playing for something and the intensity's up. These guys are pros - they have pride in how they play, and I think that's what you see."

On emotions running high after certain officiating calls:

" I'm gonna fight for the group and for the players. It is what it is. We've got to compete. I'm not gonna look for anything where we can say, 'it's because we had five [days off].' No. That's a positive that we had five days off. We got to rest, we got to recover, we got to practice. It's on us to start the game better. Same thing with the officiating, if it's called like that, then we've got to adjust. I'm not gonna ever sit up here and blame something. That's out of our control. We can control what we can control, how we start the game, how we handle it. No one feels sorry for us. So, we gotta just muscle up and be mentally tough to handle it, and I lost my cool there a little bit, too, but we're all competitive. We all want to win and I won't apologize for that, but I'm not [going to] blame the officiating, we gotta fight through things and have that toughness to us."

Azurá Stevens

On playing after a five-day break:

"We haven't been here for five days... But, I think in the second half, we were able to get back into the rhythm and I think where it hurt us the most was just transitioning. For [the Mercury], they got a lot of points in the first half, but in the second half, we were able to clean that up."

What's Next?:

The Sparks remain at home, hosting the Fever (Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. PT) and the Mystics (Aug. 31 at 5 p.m. PT).

Check out the Los Angeles Sparks Statistics

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