Sparks Conclude Strong Season at Home
WNBA Los Angeles Sparks

Sparks Conclude Strong Season at Home

Published on September 12, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release


Las Vegas Aces (30-14) at Los Angeles Sparks (21-23)

Game 44 | Sept. 11, 2025 | Crypto.com Arena | Los Angeles, CA | Spectrum SportsNet

Attendance: 13,484

Game Leaders:

Aces

PTS - A'ja Wilson (23)

REB - A'ja Wilson (19)

AST - Jackie Young (12)

Sparks

PTS - Kelsey Plum/Sarah Ashlee Barker/Dearica Hamby (15)

REB - Azurá Stevens (12)

AST - Kelsey Plum (8)

Key Takeaways:

Sarah Ashlee Barker finished with a career high in points (15) and field goals (7)

Alissa Pili finished with seven points (3-for-5 FG), her most in a Sparks jersey. The second-year forward posted a team-high +3 rating and recorded one block and one rebound in six minutes

Dearica Hamby added 15 points (3-for-4 FT), six rebounds, three assists and a team-high three steals

Kelsey Plum tallied 15 points (4-for-4 FT), a team-high eight assists and four rebounds. The eighth-year guard posted her ninth 8+ assist performance of the season

Azurá Stevens led the team in rebounds with 12, also collecting two steals

The Sparks outscored the Aces in the paint Thursday night, 52-24

Four Sparks tallied double-digit scoring totals, and every Spark played in the season finale

First Quarter:

Forward Dearica Hamby scored the Sparks' first seven points to open the game. The veteran forward led Los Angeles in first-quarter scoring (3-for-5 FG)

Guard Sarah Ashlee Barker converted a driving layup off an assist from forward-center Azurá Stevens at the 4:21 mark to cut the Sparks deficit to 15-9

With 1:37 left in the first quarter, guard Kelsey Plum scored a running layup to make the score 23-13, Las Vegas advantage

Second Quarter:

Barker scored the Sparks' first points of the second quarter with a driving finger roll layup

Plum buried a triple assisted by guard Julie Vanloo at the 8:05 mark to shorten the Sparks deficit to 31-18

With 5:47 left in the first half, forward Cameron Brink departed with a nose injury, later being ruled out for the game's remainder

At the 3:30 mark, Stevens drained a three-pointer via an assist from Vanloo to make the score 46-27, Aces advantage

Burrell hit a shot from beyond the arc, assisted by Stevens, to bring the score to 48-32

Third Quarter:

Hamby opened the Sparks' second-half scoring, converting two free throws at the 9:25 mark

At the 5:00 mark, Barker sank a triple via a Burrell assist to cut the Sparks' deficit to 68-44

Forward Alissa Pili completed a three-point play at the 1:11 mark to trim the Aces lead to 74-53

With only 28 seconds left in the third, forward Sania Feagin converted a layup via an assist from Plum

Barker made a buzzer-beating triple to close the quarter, making the score 77-58

Fourth Quarter:

Pili scored the first points of the final quarter with a cutting layup off a Feagin assist to make the score 77-60, Aces advantage

With her layup at the 4:18 mark, Barker reached a career-high 15 points

Burrell led the game in scoring in the final quarter with seven points (3-for-4 FG)

The Sparks led in paint points in the fourth quarter 16-2 and fast break points 7-0

Pregame Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On what the team means to the city of L.A.:

"One of the reasons that I wanted this job was because of LA and because of the market it is... But if you can build it, they'll come and LA loves winning, and so do I. So, the fans have been phenomenal. When you're struggling, they still came out, and it's been fun... the vibe has been even more and more as the wins have added up, and I just want to continue to build on it. But I have appreciated the fans so much. I think they've been phenomenal. Our players feel it, and you talk about creating a culture of winning, the atmosphere you play in matters and, you know, getting great players to come play with you. You know what the game experience is, how the fans support it, how the fans come out, that matters. And I think we can continue to build on it, and that's the vision. And I'm going to keep my foot full on the gas to get there."

On her thoughts on her first season as a WNBA head coach:

"This was my first year in the league, and it was new, and it was hard, it was challenging, and it's relentless, and it just keeps coming, but it was super rewarding. And I love a good challenge, and and I think we started off tough, we had a lot of injuries, and a new coach, new players and all the things. And I'm incredibly proud of our team's resolve and their ability to stick together, stick with me, stick with this [organization], and...I'm competitive as hell, and so I'm disappointed that we didn't make the playoffs, but I don't feel like it was a failure. We're setting a good foundation for where we want to be. And we can look at our season in a couple games in May or June, where it's like, oh my gosh, if we could have that back. And that's a lesson for next year. So even though, you know it's like, 'oh, it's only May, it doesn't really matter,' it does matter. Give us one or two more wins and we're having a different press conference today. So yeah, I think it was a good year, definitely peaks and valleys, but I'm proud of these players."

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