Plum Buzzer-Beater Downs Dallas
Published on August 21, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release
Dallas Wings (9-27) at Los Angeles Sparks (17-18)
Attendance: 13,598
Game Leaders:
Wings
PTS - Paige Bueckers (44)
REB - Grace Berger (6)
AST - Grace Berger (7)
Sparks
PTS - Rickea Jackson (25)
REB - Dearica Hamby (9)
AST - Julie Allemand (8)
Main Takeaways:
Kelsey Plum hit the game-winner with time expiring, an 11-foot bank shot. With 20 points, Plum set the Sparks' single-season scoring record (693 pts), passing teammate Dearica Hamby. Plum also became L.A.'s all-time leader in three-pointers made (82), moving ahead of Kristi Toliver who made 81in 2016
Rickea Jackson scored 25 points (9-for-15 FG, 6-for-7 3PT) and recorded five rebounds. She also tied her season high in steals with two and set a season high in made threes with six, matching her career high. The Sparks improved to 8-0 when Jackson scores 20 or more points in a game this year
With eight rebounds, Azurá Stevens once again leads the WNBA in games with 5+ rebounds this season (33) and claimed ninth place outright on the franchise's all-time rebounding list, passing Alana Beard
Cameron Brink tallied 11 points (5-for-9 FG), eight rebounds and a game-high +14 in 19 minutes off the bench. Four of the second-year forward's boards came on the offensive glass, a career high
Dearica Hamby scored 13 points (6-for-13 FG), securing a game-high nine rebounds
Julie Allemand dished a game-high eight assists with two turnovers. The Belgian guard's performance marks the fifth time in the past 11 games she has recorded at least seven assists
First Quarter:
Forward Rickea Jackson scored the Sparks' first points of the game at the 4:54 mark with a triple to end Dallas' 9-0 run, after a block from forward Dearica Hamby
Forward Cameron Brink converted a jump shot with 2:01 left in the first quarter to cut the Sparks' deficit to 14-10
With Jackson's three-pointer at the 0:41 mark, the Sparks take the lead
In the first quarter of play, Jackson tallied a game-high 11 points (4-for-6 FG, 3-for-3 3PT) and two steals
The Sparks went 4-for-6 (66.7%) from distance in the first quarter
Second Quarter:
To open up second quarter scoring, Jackson buried another triple to widen the Sparks' lead to 21-16 at the 9:14 mark
Plum made tough back-to-back baskets in the paint to extend the Sparks lead to 37-24
With 31 seconds left in the first half, Jackson completed a running layup to bring Los Angeles' lead to 44-35, contributing to her game-high 17 first-half points (6-for-9 FG, 4-for-5 3PT, 1-for-1 FT)
Hamby recorded a game-high seven rebounds in the opening half
In the first half, the Sparks shot 45.9% and 53.8% from beyond the arc
Third Quarter:
Forward-center Azurá Stevens kicked off Los Angeles' scoring in the second half with a putback layup at the 8:36 mark
Stevens drained the Sparks' first three-pointer of the third at the 7:55 mark via an assist from guard Julie Allemand to make the score 49-43, Los Angeles advantage
With 2:32 left in the third quarter, Brink secured a putback layup to return the lead to the Sparks, 59-58
The third quarter featured three lead changes and one tie
Fourth Quarter:
Brink opened the fourth quarter with a cutting layup assisted by Stevens
After a successful coach's challenge against Brink, Plum put the Sparks back in the lead with a driving layup, 67-66
Hamby hit a tough and-one to give Sparks the lead at 73-72 at the 4:21
Jackson buried a three to bring back the Sparks lead at 76-75
Plum hit a game-winning buzzer beater with a jump shot to make the final score 81-80. The eighth-year veteran notched a team-high 10 points in the final period to lead the Sparks to victory
The Sparks outscored the Wings 18-4 in paint points in the fourth
The final quarter featured nine lead changes and two ties
Pregame Quotes:
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
On how to prepare defensively against the Dallas Wings:
"I thought we actually did an okay job, but we just took our foot off the gas. And I think we let Paige [Bueckers] get to the middle, which is what she wants to do. We just kind of got away from the game plan. Our rotation wasn't great. They beat us on pick and pop too much. There's a lot of things. We've watched it on film, we watched it on film after that game, and yesterday as well. So hopefully, you see a much more inspired Sparks defense today."
On containing Paige Bueckers:
"I'd be confident if I were [Paige Bueckers], too. We were letting her get where she's really elite, and she's a heck of a player. She's a star in the making, and we've got to do a better job. There are 100 things that that entails. But it starts with more pressure on the ball, being more aggressive in our rotations, letting her see bodies, not just wide open lanes to the basket. We've just got to put pressure on her, and it's not whoever's matched up with her, it's not one-on-one, good luck. It's gotta be a team effort, and I think Dallas is doing a good job moving the ball and getting people in spots, and their offense. They've gotten better over the season, and I give them credit for that, but they're executing better, and they're getting their key players shots where they want them, so we've got to be dialed in."
On Rae Burrell's contributions to the team:
"Rae [Burrell]'s been phenomenal, and one of our, analytically, best defenders. But I think she's our best cutter. She understands when to cut. We have rules about that, and she gets it right every time. She's just super active offensively, and she has a short memory. So if she misses a shot, she's not worried about it. And that's a skill, to be a good offensive player, she's going to shoot the next one, and you want that. But I think she's improved too over the course of these four weeks, however long she's been back, she's gotten into a rhythm and some confidence with it. But I really do. We all really rely on her to come in the game and [to] change the tempo of it, change the vibe, and she's been a lead at that, [which is] very valuable for us."
Postgame Quotes:
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
On the last play of the game against the Wings:
"I'm a believer in if there's 15 seconds or less, not to call timeout. If there's five seconds, yes, call timeout, but if we have time to go, then it takes the coaching out. Players make plays and I think our players are good at playing in space and in transition, so just trusting them. I knew it would come down to pick and roll with [Dearica Hamby] and [Kelsey Plum]. Just a heck of a finish by her [as she was] pretty determined to get the bucket. A win is a win."
On staying consistent emotionally during tonight's contest with the Wings:
"Even if there's something happening, I'm trying to think about what's next in terms of defense, offense, subbing, [and] all those kinds of things. It helps me be a better coach to stay steady and my intention with it is to just make sure that the players don't feed off my energy one way or the other. When I need to fire them up, I'll do that. I want to be excited, I can do that, but I just want to stay steady. In these games [and] in this league, you can be up 15 and no team's ever gonna go away. Players are too competitive and too good. No lead is comfortable, and I think Dallas has really done a good job. They're playing well, executing well, and Paige [Bueckers] was unbelievable tonight. She just was."
On Rickea [Jackson]'s impact offensively:
"Rickea [Jackson]... has a way of making big shots. We needed her to score in that first quarter and it just calmed everybody down, and that's what she has done consistently all season: [she] has been steady and consistent and made the shots when her team needs, too. I mean, 6-for-7 from three, led us in scoring, that's just a great job by her. Not forcing it and taking great shots."
Cameron Brink
On her defense:
"I think just continuing to listen to the coaching staff. They come up with great scouts and plans, and I think we just really need to continue to implement that. Like we said, Paige [Bueckers] was just on fire tonight. It's hard to stop someone like that. As a big, I can do better being up to touch on screens. I was used to playing drop my whole... career, so I know there's a lot of things that I can work on, I just think as a group. We'll continue to work on it."
On returning to play during the final playoff push:
"I think it's really hard to come back at this point in the season, when we're trying to make a playoff push and fit into an offense that's already so efficient and productive. I definitely struggled with my confidence, but my teammates are great [and] they instill confidence in me. [Coach] Lynne [Roberts] did a great job about that. I just appreciate their patience, but I think it's just been hard. It's like you're jumping on a moving train. I'm just trying to do what I can defensively, get my rhythm defensively. I can get into a rhythm, but it's just gonna take me some time."
Rickea Jackson
On making her impact offensively:
"The mindset was just: [make] the shots if the ball is passed to me [and] moving the ball. I feel like the beginning of the game- on both ends- [looked] like [we'd] been off for a couple of days. I literally said, 'why does it feel like we haven't played in a minute?' But, we picked it up. The first five minutes [were] crazy, but we picked it up and we started moving the ball, so it was just a team effort, finding each other, and just continuing to stick together."
On the Sparks crowd tonight:
"It was fun. When the fans come out like that and support both teams, it's just really fun... We had a fun game tonight, and that's what basketball is all about, putting on for their fans, putting on a show for them. So, I just felt like both teams truly did that, and everyone enjoyed themselves and got their money's worth tonight."
On the team dynamic:
"We are truly good in our chemistry. We can look at each other and calm each other down, and we can criticize each other with no one getting each other's feelings hurt, no ego. That's what championship teams are built on, that foundation, being able to talk to one another, being strong. Offensively and defensively, we're still finding our footing, but we just need to come out stronger in the first quarter. But, when we're shooting the ball like that and playing defense like that, we're unstoppable."
What's Next?:
The Sparks host the Mercury (Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. PT), followed by the Fever (Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. PT) and the Mystics (Aug. 31 at 5 p.m. PT).
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from August 21, 2025
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