Postgame Notes & Quotes
WNBA Los Angeles Sparks

Postgame Notes & Quotes

Published on August 17, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release


Los Angeles Sparks (16-18) at Washington Mystics (16-18)

Game 34 | Aug. 17, 2025 | CareFirst Arena | Washington, DC | ESPN3

Game Leaders:

Sparks

PTS - Dearica Hamby (26)

REB - Dearica Hamby (4)

AST - Dearica Hamby (7)

Mystics

PTS - Sonia Citron (24)

REB - Kiki Iriafen (10)

AST - Sug Sutton (7)

First Quarter:

Forward Rickea Jackson scored the first Sparks basket via an assist by forward Dearica Hamby at the 8:11 mark. She also scored Los Angeles' next hoop, trimming its early deficit to 8-5

Jackson made her second triple of the game, unassisted, cutting the Mystics' lead to 14-12 with 3:59 left in the quarter

Guard-forward Rae Burrell drilled a three-pointer via an assist by guard Julie Vanloo with 1:10 to play, making the score Mystics 19-16. Burrell scored on the next Sparks possession, assisted this time by guard Kelsey Plum

Los Angeles turned over the ball just twice in the quarter and assisted on five of their six field goals. Four different Sparks recorded assists in the opening frame

Jackson paced the Sparks in scoring with eight points (3-for-7 FG, 2-for-4 3PT), with Burrell contributing five points (2-for-2 FG, 1-for-1 3PT)

Second Quarter:

Hamby put the Sparks' first second-quarter points on the board with a layup, assisted by Plum, ending an 8-0 Mystics' run

Forward-center Azurá Stevens hit a 16-footer via an assist by guard Julie Allemand to cut Washington's lead to 30-24 with 6:47 remaining in the half

Jackson hit a 27-foot three-pointer on a Hamby assist at the 5:15 mark

Plum drained her first three-pointer of the contest with 4:03 on the clock to cut the Sparks' deficit to 10 points

Burrell's second three of the contest, via an assist by Jackson, brought L.A. to within nine, 44-35, with 2:29 left in the half

Jackson, Burrell (3-for-4 FG, 2-for-2 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) and Plum lead the Sparks in first-half scoring with 13, 10 and eight, respectively

Hamby secured a putback layup for Los Angeles to end the half and bring the score to 53-41, Mystics

Plum and Hamby led the Sparks in assists with three each, while Hamby's three rebounds were a team high

The Sparks shot 42.9% (6-for-14) from beyond the arc in the first half

Third Quarter:

Hamby scored the Sparks' first points of the third with an unassisted layup. On the next Sparks possession, she converted an and-one. The 11th-year forward poured in Los Angeles' first seven third-quarter points

Allemand drove to the basket for a layup, her first points of the game

Hamby drained a three-pointer, assisted by Allemand, at the 4:47 mark to shorten Los Angeles' deficit to 67-57

Hamby led all scorers with 12 points (5-for-8 FG, 1-for-1, 1-for-1 FT) in the third

The Sparks shot 58.8% (10-for-17) from the field in the third quarter and assisted on six of their 10 makes

Fourth Quarter:

Plum scored the Sparks' first six points to open the fourth quarter

With 7:22 remaining in the quarter, Hamby finished a cutting finger roll layup to cut the Sparks' deficit to seven. The basket marked LA's shortest deficit since the 6:47 mark of the second quarter

Plum knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Sparks' deficit to six with 2:02 left in the match. The veteran guard led all scorers in the fourth quarter with 11 points

Hamby led all scorers in the second-half with 20 points on nine of 12 field goals made

The Sparks shot 55.6% (10-for-18 FG) in the fourth and outscored the Mystics 16-6 in the paint

Los Angeles assisted on seven of their 10 shots in the fourth quarter and only turned over the ball once. L.A. scored 11 points on Washington's six turnovers in the final period

Main Takeaways:

The Sparks got a combined 51 points from the highest-scoring teammate duo in the WNBA, Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby

In her 33rd appearance of the season, Plum tied the WNBA record for most games in a season with at least 20 points and five assists with her 18th. Caitlin Clark shares the record, posting 18 such performances in 2024 (40 games). She also tied Kristi Toliver for the Sparks' single-season record for made threes in a season

Plum put up 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting (2-for-5 3PTM), also adding six assists and three steals. With three steals, she recorded her second consecutive multiple-steal performance and her 12th of the season. It's also her fifth 3+ STL game of the year

Hamby scored 26 points (12-for-17 FG, 1-for-1 3PT), also recording seven assists and four rebounds. She also claimed sole possession of 10th on the franchise steals list, surpassing Brittney Sykes

Rickea Jackson finished with 17 points on 42.8% shooting from beyond the arc (3-for-7). The second-year forward also added one block and one steal in 38 minutes of action

Rae Burrell came off the bench to contribute 10 points, two assists and one steal

The Sparks shot 50.0% (35-for-70 FG) from the floor and scored 46 of their 86 points in the paint

The Sparks tied their season low with eight turnovers, also committing just eight July 5 in Indianapolis

Los Angeles scored 25 points off of Washington's 18 turnovers

Pregame Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On the Sparks' recent success:

"What I like is being healthy and having our crew back. Offensively, we're really dangerous. I think the players have figured it out in terms of the system, and playing with each other, and all the things. [They understand] who's good at what, and how to get them those shots. I like this group's desire, they want to make the playoffs. We've been very clear on that all season long. So their commitment to that has been great. [We have had] some moments where we haven't been consistent. Like the other night, we played New York, we scored 97. That should be enough to win, but we gave up 105. So, I'm not worried about our scoring, I'm worried about our ability to get big stops when we need them consistently. We've done it, and then sometimes we haven't."

On combating Washington's effective defense:

"I think the biggest thing is getting stops, getting rebounds so we can get out and play with pace. That's when we're at our best. It's hard to run [when you're] taking the ball out of the net. The more aggressive and locked in we can be defensively to be one and done, [the better we are]. They shoot it, we get the rebound, or we get a steal, where we can get out and go. I think it doesn't change - whatever the philosophy is for the other team's defense, we want to just take great shots, and if it takes 18 seconds to get a great shot, then we need to be patient. I do think us out in pace and space is tough for defenses. But Washington does do a good job of making you execute in half-court, and that's what we've got to be able to do, and not just take the first shot we have, unless it's a great shot. And everybody in our locker room knows what a great shot is at this point in the season."

Postgame Press Conference Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On Dearica Hamby & Kelsey Plum stepping up:

"[Dearica Hamby and Kelsey Plum] are our two leaders. I thought they were great. KP did a great job getting to the bucket there to get us going. She was not going to be denied. Dearica did a really good job on their ball screen coverage rolling, and we found her, and she was tough going to the basket. KP & D have been this way all season, you know? They've led us when it's hard. Tonight was hard, and you have to give credit to Washington. I thought they played well, they executed well. It took us that first half to really get going. So that's disappointing, but we gotta move on."

On what the Sparks can learn from this loss with 10 games remaining:

"The message we learned today is we can't come out and think it's going to be easy. I thought in the first half, they were anticipating more than we were. They were executing better than we were. They were rebounding better than we were. They had 35 rebounds. We had 15. That's a direct correlation to effort. [We have to] come out with the intensity it takes, especially to win on the road. We can't panic or think that the sky is falling and we've had tough losses before, and we've always bounced back. So I believe in this group and trust them, and these two sitting next to me are as reliable as they come. And when your best players are like that, then you have every reason to be confident. So we've got to regroup. We have a couple days off to practice, which is amazing. We'll be fine."

Kelsey Plum

On playing seven games in 13 days:

"Some things l've learned in this league is [whether it's] two days, one day or six days [of rest], no one feels bad for anyone. So, it doesn't matter, at the end of the day, you gotta show up and play basketball."

What's Next?:

The Sparks open a four-game homestand on Aug. 20 (7 p.m. PT) with a rematch against the Dallas Wings. The stretch continues with the Mercury Aug. 26 (7 p.m. PT), Fever Aug. 29 (7 p.m. PT) and Mystics Aug. 31 (5 p.m. PT).

Check out the Los Angeles Sparks Statistics

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