Sparks Gameday Notes

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Los Angeles Sparks

Sparks Gameday Notes

September 6, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release


Game 34: Los Angeles Sparks (7-27) at Chicago Sky (12-22)

September 6, 2024

Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final Points Rebounds Assists

Sparks 20 22 19 17 78 Dearica Hamby (21) Azurá Stevens (9)

Odyssey Sims (6)

Sky 19 29 27 17 92 Angel Reese (24)

Angel Reese (12)

Chennedy Carter (7)

Box Score

First Quarter:

Dearica Hamby began the scoring for the Sparks with a reverse layup on the first possession

Rickea Jackson scored her first basket in transition off a Rae Burrell assist, all Sparks starters scored in the first six minutes of the game

Azurá Stevens knocked down her first triple of the game, assisted by Rickea Jackson

The Sparks scored on back-to-back transition plays to extend the lead to 19-13

L.A. assisted on seven of its eight made field goals in the quarter, shooting 47.1% overall (8-for-17)

Second Quarter:

Rickea Jackson completed an and-1 to stretch L.A.'s advantage to 27-22

Kia Nurse drained her first shot of the night, a three-pointer in transition off an Odyssey Sims assist to extend lead to 30-22

Li Yueru grabbed an offensive board and went back up, finishing the layup, drawing the foul and converting the free throw...two possessions later, she put in a reverse post up layup, assisted by Stephanie Talbot

Jackson posted a game-high 11 points (2-for-3 FG, 7-for-7 FT) in the quarter, scoring a game-high 15 in the first half

There were seven ties and three lead changes in the half.

Third Quarter:

Azurá Stevens hit her second three-pointer of the night for the first Sparks' field goal in the second half

Dearica Hamby drilled her first three of the evening courtesy of Crystal Dangerfield...on the next possession, Zia Cooke drained pull-up mid-range jumper, her first basket of the night, to bring the Sparks within single digits 66-57

In the third quarter, Dearica Hamby accounted for 73.7% of the Sparks' points (nine points and two assists resulting in five points)

In the quarter, the Sparks assisted on all eight of their made field goals

Fourth Quarter:

Zia Cooke got a steal and layup in transition while drawing the foul to start the fourth quarter scoring for Los Angeles

Crystal Dangerfield scored her first basket with a three with 4:00 remaining

Dearica Hamby, off a Rae Burrell assist, scored a transition layup and drew the foul. 85-72, Sky

Hamby tallied six points, three boards and two steals in the final quarter

Los Angeles recorded four steals in the fourth

Main Takeaways:

With this loss, Los Angeles was eliminated from playoff contention

Rickea Jackson tied her career high with three blocks, also matching her career for high for free throws made (7-for-7 FT)

In her first start of the season, Rae Burrell notched a career high with three steals and matched a career mark with four assists

Dearica Hamby led the Sparks with 21 points (9-for-15 FG), her 13th 20+ point performance of the season. She also dished five assists for the third time in four games and tallied four steals for the second time this season

The Sparks outscored the Sky 23-10 on the fast break and assisted on 23 of their 29 made field goals

Azurá Stevens (3-for-7 FG, 2-for-4 3PT) narrowly missed recording a double-double in back-to-back games for the first time in her WNBA career, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds

Curt Miller became the 13th person to serve as WNBA head coach for 300 regular season games, ranking 11th all-time in wins

The Sparks head home for a three-game homestand against the Connecticut Sun (Sept. 8 and 10) and the Seattle Storm (Sept. 11).

Check out the Los Angeles Sparks Statistics

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