Sparks Beat Fever on Road - Postgame Notes & Quotes
WNBA Los Angeles Sparks

Sparks Beat Fever on Road - Postgame Notes & Quotes

Published on July 5, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release


Los Angeles Sparks (6-13) at Indiana Fever (9-8)

Game Leaders:

Sparks

PTS - Azurá Stevens (21)

REB - Azurá Stevens (12)

AST - Rickea Jackson/Julie Allemand (5)

Fever

PTS - Aliyah Boston (23)

REB - Aliyah Boston (11)

AST - Aari McDonald (8)

First Quarter:

Forward Dearica Hamby scored the first basket of the game with a layup, assisted by forward Rickea Jackson

Kelsey Plum's three-pointer with 6:15 left in the first quarter tied her with Maya Moore and Arike Ogunbowale for 17th all-time. The shot was assisted by guard Julie Allemand

The Sparks went on a 7-0 run to take a 13-10 lead at the 5:08 mark

Forward-center Azurá Stevens drilled a triple with 4:37 remaining in the quarter, assisted by Hamby, to give Los Angeles a 16-13 lead

Guard Julie Vanloo returned the lead to her team with a triple, 21-20 at the 1:07 mark, her first points as a Spark. Jackson assisted on the play

Stevens and Hamby led the Sparks with seven and six points, respectively. Stevens also had four rebounds, while guard Allemand grabbed a game-high five boards in the quarter, already tying her season high

The first quarter featured five lead changes and six ties

Second Quarter:

Center Mercedes Russell scored the first five points of the quarter for the Sparks with a free throw followed by two layups, the first at the 8:29 mark and the second off a Vanloo assist at 7:52

Plum sank a three-pointer at the 6:08 mark, her second of the game, giving her sole possession of 17th on the all-time threes made list

Plum held the team high in first-half points with 11 (4-for-9 FG, 3-for-6 3PT) while Stevens held the team high in first-half rebounds with six. Plum led all scorers in the second quarter with eight points (3-for-4 FG, 2-for-3 3PT)

Jackson scored six points in the second quarter, making all three shots she attempted and contributing a steal and a block

The Sparks turned over the ball just once in the second quarter, and the Fever amassed three turnovers

Third Quarter:

Hamby scored the first points for the Sparks in the second half with a jumpshot at the 9:23 mark off an assist from Plum

Assisted by Plum, Stevens hit a three-pointer at the 7:26 mark to cut the Fever's lead to one point, 49-48

Hamby's first steal of the contest led to a fast break layup for Stevens, assisted by Hamby and cutting the Sparks' deficit to 52-50 with 6:27 left in the third

Hamby beat the buzzer, via a Jackson assists, to cut the Fever's lead to 54-52

Stevens drained her third triple of the game, courtesy of an Allemand assist, trimming the Sparks' deficit to 60-55 at the 4:02 mark

Allemand's first triple of the game, with 2:20 to go in the third, was set up by Jackson and cut the Fever lead to 62-61

Plum drained a three-pointer with 24.6 seconds left in the third, cutting the tie, 70-67, Sparks advantage

The Sparks went 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the third quarter

Fourth Quarter:

Stevens opened the quarter for the Sparks with a pull up 14-foot jumper, bringing the score to 73-72, Fever advantage

Hamby found a cutting Jackson for a layup to cut Indiana's lead to 84-81 with 3:07 remaining in the game thx

On the next possession, Hamby cut the Sparks' deficit to 84-83 with a layup, assisted by Stevens

Jackson completed a three-point play off an assist from Hamby at the 1:31 mark to make the score 87-85, Fever

On the next Sparks possession, Jackson made a jump shot to put the Sparks ahead, 88-87, with only 57 seconds left in the contest. Jackson's seven points (3-for-3 FG, 1-for-1 FT) were the most any player scored in the fourth

The Sparks shot 50.0% (6-for-12) in the final quarter

Los Angeles finished the game on a 14-7 run and a 6-0 run in the final 1:43

Main Takeaways:

With four three-pointers in the contest, Kelsey Plum surpassed Maya Moore, Arike Ogunbowale and Renee Montgomery on the all-time three-pointers made list. The guard now owns sole possession of 16th, three behind Ivory Latta for 15th

Azurá Stevens notched her sixth double-double of the season with a team-high 21 points (7-for-14 FG, 3-for-7 3PT) and 12 rebounds

Dearica Hamby recorded 18 points (7-for-11 FG, 3-for-4 FT) along with three rebounds, four assists and one steal

Rickea Jackson scored 15 points (6-for-12 FG) and set a career high with five assists

Julie Allemand set her season high in rebounds with six, also tallying five assists

The Sparks recorded the fewest turnovers in a game this season with seven, their previous low being 11

The Sparks shot 49.2% (32-for-65) from the floor and 45.5% (10-for-22) from beyond the arc in the contest

With this win, Los Angeles advanced to 41-16 all-time against Indiana

Pregame Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On her takeaways from Thursday's game:

"[We need to focus on] putting those four quarters together. For like 35 minutes, we were tremendous defensively, and we just relaxed a little bit. And against a team like the Liberty, actually anybody in this league, you do that... it's going to be tough, and they pounced on it. We can't let one side of the ball affect the other, so if we're not making shots... you can't let that affect your defensive intensity. So when I'm talking about putting 40 minutes together, that's what I'm looking for. A lot of positives from the New York game, but we want to get wins."

On Rae Burrell's performance in her first game back from injury Thursday:

"Rae [Burrell], coming off the bench, she hadn't even really practiced, so I wasn't sure how settled in she would be. It's hard to be out for two months and then just jump into a game of that caliber, but she did a great job. She brought defensive energy, she hit a three, she got to the bucket. Rae's an energy player, meaning she brings energy to the court and we need that length and bounce and everything she does."

Postgame Press Conference Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On Mercedes Russell in Saturday's closing minutes:

"Down the stretch when they needed to score, [Aliyah Boston] was being super aggressive and physical, lowering her shoulder, and Dearica [Hamby] also had five fouls. So we wanted to put somebody bigger on 'AB' [Boston], and I thought [Mercedes Russell] did a tremendous job. Not that Dearica couldn't, but we couldn't risk her getting her fifth foul, or sixth foul if it went into overtime... and I thought [Russell] did a tremendous job."

On improvement on limiting turnovers:

"That's a great job, and that's something that has been hurting us a little bit, and Indiana's incredibly physical defensively, and they're active... and for us to only have seven giveaways like that is really [an] improvement, and 22 assists. I'm proud of our team for that. We were down eight in the fourth quarter, and our players didn't flinch, and that's the sign of toughness and playing to win, and... next play mentality, so there's a lot of positives there. But seven turnovers, for me, is a big one, and being down eight in the fourth, and just not panicking, and not getting discouraged. That's how you win games."

Kelsey Plum

On running the offense efficiently:

"Coaches emphasized [efficient offense] all year, just shot quality, and I thought tonight we did a really good job moving the ball. It's super evenly distributed in field goals, which is what we want. We want everyone to be a threat, we want everyone to be firing on all cylinders, and... it was cool tonight. Everyone took turns in picking their spots, and [Azurá Stevens] hit some big shots, Rickea [Jackson] hit some big shots, and it was a great team win."

On resilience through the fourth quarter:

"It was just really cool to see us be resilient. There was even a couple calls that didn't go our way, we just stayed together, stayed tough, and that's a mark of a team that's growing, and chemistry is building. I've said this all year, I'll continue to say it, the best teams in this league have had that chemistry, and they build it year after year. So, we want to continue to build that, and we've been in a lot of close games, and [I'm] just really proud that we responded, stayed together. Defensively, I thought [Azurá Stevens] made the play of the game, just coming over, getting that stop on Boston... getting the rebound, holding it, and then hitting a free throw."

On Azurá Stevens' play:

"It was great. I agree with Coach. I think she's probably one of the most underrated players in our league [and] doesn't get the attention she deserves. What she's doing, the way she's shooting, how efficient she is. Defensively, she's just a nightmare for people. I think she's been super all year, so we're gonna continue to go to her, and we gotta build off of this. We have a tough one against Minnesota. I feel like this always happens. We always play Minnesota next. But, no, it's exciting, so we're just gonna continue to build off it."

Azurá Stevens

On the Sparks' performance tonight after Thursday's loss:

"Obviously, we felt like we let the New York game kind of get away from us in that third quarter. I think Indiana went on runs tonight and we withstood them, so it's just growth. It's growth. I'm proud of the team for not just disintegrating when they went on their run. We just found a way to come back and punch it right back at them and made tough plays at the end. Rickea [Jackson] was really great at the end just coming through with that clutch... [Kelsey Plum] was steady all game, [Dearica Hamby] was steady all game, Julie [Allemand] had some big plays. Everybody came in and played well. So, I'm just proud of us for fighting back and bouncing back after the New York loss."

On Rickea Jackson's performance late in the fourth:

"It was a great play by Rickea [Jackson]. I thought she had great looks in the first half, they just didn't fall. So, for her to just stick with it, I think was really good, and just a sign of growth, not to get out of it, but just to stay aggressive. Like [Kelsey Plum] said, when we're all taking turns, we're really hard to guard and to beat. I thought that was really cool for her to give those points at the end. It was a huge, huge bucket for us."

What's Next?:

The Sparks return to Los Angeles for a three-game homestand leading into the 2025 WNBA All-Star break. First up is the Minnesota Lynx (July 10 at 12 p.m. PT), followed by the Connecticut Sun (July 13 at 3 p.m. PT) and Washington Mystics (July 15 at 7 p.m. PT).

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