Sacramento Monarchs Weekly Update

June 1, 2005 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Sacramento Monarchs News Release


Monarchs Injury Update:
Guard Kara Lawson suffered a left ankle sprain during the May 21 contest at Phoenix. She is currently listed as day-to-day and hopefully will see some action in Saturday's game vs. Los Angeles to be nationally televised on ABC.

Guard Sui Feifei and center-forward Olympia Scott-Richardson have been placed on the injured list. Scott-Richardson has a left thigh contusion and Sui has a left knee contusion/sprain.

Outlook for the Week
Wednesday, June 1 at Indiana Fever, 5:00 P.M. PDT at Conseco Fieldhouse

Saturday, June 4 vs. Los Angeles Sparks, 1:00 P.M. PDT at ARCO Arena N10

Tuesday, June 7 vs. Indiana Fever, 7:00 P.M. PDT at ARCO Arena ESPN

*All games can be heard on Sports 1140 KHTK with Jim Kozimor and Krista Blunk calling the action.
N10 - Televised on News 10
ESPN - Televised on ESPN

Last Weeks Recap:
At Minnesota Lynx 5/29/2005:
The Monarchs remain undefeated in 2005, 3-0 to start the season, a first in franchise history after an exciting 67-66 win over Minnesota at the Target Center. The Lynx began the game with a 22-10 run and the Monarchs answered with a 19-2 run of their own to take a 33-26 lead. Minnesota was able to close within two points in the final seconds for the 35-33 Sacramento lead entering the break.

Sacramento started the second half with a 7-0 run, eventually building a 10 point lead before Minnesota took over at 66-65 with less than a minute left in regulation off a lay-up from Lynx center Nicole Ohlde. Yolanda Griffith scored a lay-up with less than 30 seconds left in the game, assisted by DeMya Walker, which resulted in the 67-66 win. Griffith led the Monarchs with her 74th career double-double (2nd of 2005), scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds as she netted 7-of-10 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Walker added 15 points, four rebounds and three assists, while guard Ticha Penicheiro dished out a game-high 10 assists.

Katie Smith led Minnesota with 23 points, making 4-of-8 from the 3-point line. The Monarchs held the points in the paint advantage 38-18, while the Lynx were the leaders in second chance points 15-7 and fast break points 11-8.

At San Antonio Silver Stars 5/27/2005:
The Monarchs improved to 2-0 on the season as they defeated the Silver Stars, 71-67, at San Antonio at the SBC Center. Yolanda Griffith was the leader in scoring and on the boards for the night, recording her first double-double of the season (21 points and 10 rebounds - 73rd career). Griffith also shot a blistering 75% (9-of-12) from the floor.

Sacramento, leading 36-26 at the break, had two key runs in the first half, a 9-0 run with nine minutes left and an 11-2 run with less than three minutes remaining until the break. The Monarchs led by as many as 13 points in the second half before San Antonio was able to close within two points during the final minutes of regulation, outscoring the Monarchs 41-35 in the second half, but it wasn't enough. Sacramento held the points in the paint advantage 44-22, scored 16 fast break points to the Silver Stars eight and shot an impressive 50.9% as a team.

Also scoring in double figures for Sacramento were DeMya Walker with 13 points and a game-high five assists and Ticha Penicheiro with 11 points and a game-high four steals. Marie Ferdinand led the Silver Stars with 17 points and eight boards.

Next Game Outlook:
Wednesday, June 1 at Indiana Fever, 5:00 P.M. PDT at Conseco Fieldhouse
The Monarchs will attempt to continue the best start in franchise history as they take on the Indiana Fever tonight. The Detroit Shock is the only other team yet to be defeated in 2005. The Monarchs currently hold the top spot in the Western Conference, one-half game ahead of the Houston Comets.

Indiana (3-1) is coming off of a tough double-overtime loss to Houston. It was the Fever's first loss of the season. Indiana holds the second place spot in the Eastern Conference, one-half game behind Detroit.

This is the final game of a four-city road trip for the Monarchs, who open in Sacramento on Saturday versus the Los Angeles Sparks.

2005 vs. Fever
June 1 Wednesday at Indiana, 5:00 P.M. PDT
June 7 Tuesday vs. Indiana, 7:00 P.M. PDT

Regular Season Series Notes
Largest Sacramento victory: 74-65, 6-14-03 @ Sacramento (12, twice) most recent
Largest Indiana victory: 63-50, 6-16-04 @ Indiana (13)
Most Points, Sacramento: 81-69, 8-3-01 @ Sacramento
Fewest Points, Sacramento: 50-63, 6-16-04 @ Indiana
Most Points, Indiana: 79-67, 6-14-03 @ Sacramento
Fewest Points, Indiana: 58-70, 6-21-00 @ Indiana
Longest winning streak, Sacramento: 2 games, 6-21-00 through 8-3-01
Longest winning streak, Indiana: 2 games, 6-14-03 through 6-16-04
Monarchs last home win: 7-25-04, 71-62
Monarchs last road win: 6-21-00, 70-58
Current streak: Monarchs won 1, last loss 6-16-04 (63-50)

Quotables
Indiana Fever Center Kelly Schumacher, July 25, 2004 at Sacramento:
"I give (Sacramento) all the credit because they are a very athletic team, they make sure they get out in the passing lanes and from their one to their five they're really long and athletic and put a lot of pressure on us. They do a really good job defensively."

Indiana Fever Head Coach Brian Winters, June 16, 2004 at Indiana:
"Sacramento rebounded offensively much better because of their 6'5, 6'4, 6'3 front line. They must create space to rebound. They beat us on the boards in the first half..."

Monarchs/Fever Connections
Fever forward Tamika Catchings ('01) graduated from Tennessee, while Monarchs guard Kara Lawson graduated from Tennessee in 2003. Both Lawson and Catchings played on the same team for two years (1999-01).

Monarchs guard Ticha Penicheiro and Fever Tamika Catchings went head-to-head as starters in the 2002 WNBA All-Star Game for their respective conferences.

Monarchs forward Yolanda Griffith and guard Ticha Penicheiro were teammates with Fever forward Natalie Williams during the 2003-04 offseason as they all played for UMMC in Ekaterinburg, Russia.



Upcoming Games Outlook:
Saturday, June 4 vs. Los Angeles Sparks, 1:00 P.M. PDT at ARCO Arena
The Monarchs will host the Los Angeles Sparks at ARCO Arena for Sacramento's home opener on Saturday, June 4, at 1:00 p.m. PDT, televised on ABC.

2005 vs. Sparks
June 4 Saturday vs. Los Angeles, 1:00 P.M. PDT
June 11 Saturday at Los Angeles, 7:30 P.M. PDT
July 29 Friday vs. Los Angeles, 7:00 P.M. PDT
August 16 Tuesday at Los Angeles, 7:30 P.M. PDT

Regular Season Series Notes
Largest Sacramento victory: 68-51, 6-3-04 @ Sacramento (17)
Largest Los Angeles victory: 87-65, 7-5-02 @ Los Angeles (22, three times) most recent
Most Points, Sacramento: 83-75, 7-31-03 @ Sacramento
Fewest Points, Sacramento: 52-65, 9-12-04 @ Los Angeles
Most Points, Los Angeles 100-78, 6-10-99 @ Los Angeles
Fewest Points, Los Angeles: 51-68, 6-3-04 @ Sacramento
Longest winning streak, Sacramento: 4 games, 6-28-03 through 7-17-04
Longest winning streak, Los Angeles: 10 games, 7-5-00 through 6-7-03
Monarchs last home win: 6-3-04, 68-51
Monarchs last road win: 7-17-04, 79-70
Current streak: Monarchs lost 2, last win 7-17-04 (79-70)

Quotables
Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie, July 29, 2004 at Sacramento:
"They (the Monarchs) crash the boards, they're excellent at offensive rebounding. That's the key to the game, just trying to keep them off the boards. They come running from everywhere, they don't have a lot

of shooters on the floor and they get second chance points. They're an army. You have to give Kara Lawson a lot of credit, she hit some big shots."

Los Angeles Sparks guard Nikki Teasley, July 29, 2004 at Sacramento:
"They (the Monarchs) played as hard as they could, I take me hat off to them, they didn't give up."

Los Angeles Sparks guard Tamecka Dixon, July 29, 2004 at Sacramento:
"They (the Monarchs) are successful when they crash the boards and get second chance opportunities."

"Lawson hit those two big three's to send it to overtime. We were supposed to switch on her, you have to switch and get up on her quick, you can't give her any open looks. She knocked them down tonight, but we'll live with that."

Monarchs/Sparks Connections

Sparks forward Chamique Holdsclaw is a 1999 graduate of Tennessee, while four years later Monarchs guard Kara Lawson graduated in 2003.

Monarchs forward Yolanda Griffith and guard Ticha Penicheiro were teammates with Sparks guards Tamecka Dixon and Nikki Teasley during the 2003-04 offseason as they all played for UMMC in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Monarchs guard Ticha Penicheiro joined Sparks players Lisa Leslie, Tamecka Dixon and Mwadi Mabika in the 2002 All-Star Game for the Western Conference.

Monarchs forward Yolanda Griffith and Sparks center Lisa Leslie were teammates on the gold medal-winning USA Basketball teams in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. In addition, Griffith, Leslie, and Sparks forward Chamique Holdsclaw were gold medalists in the 1999 U.S. Olympic Cup.



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 1, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central