Postgame Notes - Sparks Defeat Sky, 91-78
May 25, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release
Los Angeles Sparks (2-3) vs. Chicago Sky (0-3)
Game 5 | May 25, 2025 | Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 11,422
Box Score | Full Book
Postgame Press Conference featuring Head Coach Lynne Roberts, Kelsey Plum & Azurá Stevens:
Recording Link
Passcode: F436&Y+f
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Sparks 21 22 33 15 91
Sky 19 20 25 14 78
Game Leaders
Sparks Sky
Points Kelsey Plum (28) Angel Reese (13)
Rebounds Azurá Stevens (8) Angel Reese (12)
Assists Dearica Hamby/ Kelsey Plum (8) Ariel Atkins (5)
First Quarter:
Forward-center Azurá Stevens scored the first basket of the game, a 14-footer off an assist from forward Dearica Hamby
Hamby made the first three-pointer of the game at the 7:12 mark. Guard Sarah Ashlee Barker made a triple of her own on the next Sparks possession with an assist from Hamby, giving the Sparks a 13-7 lead with 6:42 left in the quarter
Eight Sparks players scored in the first quarter, with Hamby's five points leading the way. Hamby also recorded three steals, two rebounds, two assists and one block in the quarter. The forward's three steals matched her season high at the 5:00 mark
Los Angeles' largest lead of the quarter was six points
Barker scored four points and recorded three rebounds in the opening quarter, matching her career high in defensive rebounds (three)
Second Quarter:
Guard Odyssey Sims put the Sparks ahead, 34-33 with her first three of the game. It was the Sparks' first lead since they led 21-19 at the beginning of the second quarter. Sims made her second three of the game about a minute and a half later, off an assist by guard Kelsey Plum, returning the lead to the Sparks at 37-35
Guard Julie Allemand recorded her second steal in the second quarter at the 7:25 mark, marking a season high
In the first half, the Sparks assisted on 12 of their 14 made field goals, recording five more assists than the Sky (12-7)
Sims scored a game-high 11 points (4-for-6 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 1-for-2 FT) in the first half
Hamby had four steals in the first half, one shy of her career high for an entire game
Plum had a game-high five assists in the half. Her season high for assists is six
Third Quarter:
Plum gave the Sparks its first three and points of the second half
Hamby recorded her sixth steal at the 8:15 mark, surpassing her career high of five
Plum also recorded her seventh assist at the 6:30 mark, surpassing her season high in assists
The Sparks went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 11 points, 70-59 at 3:25
The Sparks scored 33 points in the third quarter, matching their largest figure of any quarter all season (33 against PHX)
Fourth Quarter:
Barker hit a new season high in points with nine at the 6:50 mark (previous seven)
Stevens had eight points, three rebounds and two steals in the fourth quarter
In the second half, Plum scored 21 points (7-for-13 FG, 5-for-8 3PT) and had three assists
Los Angeles' 48 points in the second half marked a new season high
The Sparks shot 57.1% from beyond the arc and a 51.5% from the field in the second half
Main Takeaways:
Los Angeles scored 91 points, shooting 48.1% (13-for-27) from three and 47.0% (31-for-66) from the field, all season highs. The Sky shot just 20.0% from three-point land
Los Angeles dished a season-high 24 assists and secured 10 offensive rebounds, both season highs
Plum set her season high in assists (eight) and three-pointers (six), scoring 28 points (9-for-18 FG, 6-for-10 3PT,
Hamby set her career high in steals with six (two shy of Candace Parker's most steals ever by a Spark) and matched her career high in assists with eight
Stevens matched her career high in made field goals with 10 and posted 24 points (two shy of her scoring career high). The veteran also grabbed eight rebounds and had two steals and one block. Stevens shot 10-for-14 from the field and 2-for-4 from deep.
Sims matched her season high in field goals made with four, while Barker scored a career high in points (nine), also setting her career high in defensive rebounds (three)
Forward Liatu King set her career high in rebounds with five and defensive rebounds with four
Pregame Sparks HC Lynne Roberts Quotes:
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
On how the team prepared for Sunday's game:
"This is the hard part. This is our third game in five days, Tuesday will be our fourth [game] in seven [days]. As I've said many times, it's not a practicing league. It's not like you can get out there and work on it, because players will just be fried. So there's a lot of film, and a lot of accountability in that regard. But you have to turn the page, you've got to move on. And so the last 36 hours, it's been all Chicago focus, but the players, they know, they're as annoyed as we all are, and you guys are, but ... we got to play better. We got to play with urgency for 40 minutes. So it's mindset, it's film, it's talking about it, it's game planning, but, you know, it's 99% mental."
On coaching Sarah Ashlee Barker after a loss:
"She's a high achiever and in all things, she has a high standard for herself. No one puts pressure on her more than she puts on herself. I think she understands the opportunity that she's been given, and she just wants it so bad. It's the bar of soap analogy: squeeze it too hard and it just goes shooting out of your hands... My message to her has been [just to] take a little air out of the tires. We believe in you. We trust you... [What you're seeing] is just someone that's been given this opportunity and is such a high achiever and wants to do right."
On the transition from collegiate to professional coaching:
"Basketball's basketball. To me, it's been a good transition for me from just a basketball standpoint. These players are better, and they're bigger, stronger, faster, more skillful. So you start off on a higher level with the things you could do. The adjustment for me is just not having really practice time. That's the big adjustment in learning how to teach and how to make adjustments, how to add things, tweak things without really getting practice time. That's been a learning curve for me."
On bouncing back after Friday's loss to the Valkyries:
"That's where they have to be pros. I'm a big believer in turning the page, and like I said, after the loss, had we won, we still need to turn the page, right? So you have to move on. But that doesn't mean you don't learn from it. And so you have to learn from it and watch the film and have the hard accountability point outs. But these guys want to achieve. They're not in their feelings, they're not feeling sorry for themselves. You have to have that next game, next play mentality, you just get up and keep swinging. And it's going to be 40 more times, right? We just gotta keep getting up. Whether we win by 20 or lose in a tough game, you just have to keep getting up, and that's the message I'm preaching and modeling. I'm not harping on Friday, but we need to play with urgency, and I will remind them of that, but I'm not going to bring up the loss. I've just got to move on."
Postgame Press-Conference Quotes:
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
On Sunday's win:
"Yes, I prefer winning. I'm much better at it. And that's what I just told them in the locker room, that we played 40 minutes and wins are hard to come by in this league, and you can play a good 40 minutes and the other team is gonna make it uncomfortable, but we have 24 assists on 31 made baskets. That's the stat of the game for me, but we also had 12 steals. We were really good defensively. They were locked in. You know, Dearica [Hamby] had six steals, which is impressive from a post [player]. Azurá [Stevens] was everywhere tonight, inside. I thought we took them out of what made them comfortable. They're a good team and they've played a tough schedule ... we were 13 [out of] 27 from the [three-point line], we had a good proportion of twos to threes. The ball was moving, and [we had a] season high of points, so we just gotta build on it."
On how the team dealt with the Sky's runs:
"We're learning to not think about what has just happened. Just attack the next play. And I thought that happened. [Kelsey Plum] hit a shot. [Azurá Stevens] hit a shot. We just answered. That's the verb you want to use ... just answer it. Don't dwell on what's happening, but just next play mentality, attack that. So they did a really good job of just not dwelling on the run and just keep chopping wood."
On how to build off Sunday's win:
"You ain't got no choice. It's coming. And so it's like I said before the game, win or lose, we gotta wake up tomorrow and attack [the] Atlanta game plan. As coaches, we'll attack it when we leave here, we just have to take care of ourselves, rest, rehab, do all the things. And like I said, win or lose, you gotta reattack, because they come quick. So another chance to play at home, another chance to get a win at home, but nothing's easy, so we gotta be ready to roll."
Kelsey Plum
On her dynamic performance in the third quarter:
"[I was] just trying to stay aggressive and I felt like in the first half, they were giving me a little bit of space. So I knew in the third quarter, I had to come out and pull up. It's just like a fine balance between taking quick shots and step-backs versus trying to get us into stuff. So I was trying to be really patient in the first half, and I felt like it was going to open up for me in the second."
Azurá Stevens
On the team's confidence and energy in the second half:
"It's been a focus. We haven't come out after halftime with the best energy, so we've really been trying to focus on that and with [Kelsey Plum] leading the charge, everybody just came out confident in the second half and we're really hard to guard when ... we're cutting, we're making the right reads, and we're making threes, it's hard to guard that. So we just had a concerted effort today to just come out of halftime with a lot of energy."
On her performance against centers Angel Reese and Kamila Cardoso:
"I think me and [Dearica Hamby] boxed out as much as we could, but the guards came in and got the ones that fell around the free throw line. I think that's important when you're playing teams that have size, it takes a gang effort. I think the guards did a good job, and then, me and [Hamby] did a good job, too, of just trying to battle them. We're skinny, but we're strong too, so we use that to our advantage, but... And they play really, really hard."
On her chemistry with Kelsey Plum and the Sparks' coaching and playing system:
"It's been great playing with [Kelsey Plum]. Me and her have really connected just on the cutting. She always finds me at the right time. It's my job to knock in the shot, so I'm happy that I get to play with someone like that, where all I have to do is make the shots, but I just think the system is really good for us. It spreads teams out, and when you're a good shooter, you can get what you want. They're going to start coming out, and then it's almost a free lane to the basket. So, I just love the spacing, and when we run our stuff right, it's really easy to score."
What's Next?: The Sparks host the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, May 27 (7 p.m.) before going on the road to face the Las Vegas Aces on Friday, May 30 (7 p.m.).
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