Sparks Postgame Notes
May 22, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Sparks 19 27 7 33 86
Mercury 23 19 24 23 89
Game Leaders
Sparks Mercury
Points Kelsey Plum (25) Satou Sabally (25)
Rebounds Azurá Stevens (17) Kathryn Westbeld (6)
Assists Kelsey Plum (6) Alyssa Thomas (7)
First Quarter:
Forward Dearica Hamby scored the Sparks' first four points of the game with a layup and jump shot
Guard Kelsey Plum made a three-pointer and a long jump shot on back-to-back possessions to give Los Angeles its first lead of the game, 9-8, with 6:35 remaining in the quarter
Julie Allemand and Emma Cannon each made their Sparks debut at the 3:56 mark. Allemand made the first shot she attempted, a three-pointer, at 2:38 to cut the Sparks' deficit to 21-16
Cannon scored her first points of the season with a three-point play on the next Sparks possession, bringing Los Angeles to within two points, 21-19
The first quarter featured four lead changes and three ties
Second Quarter:
Forward Liatu King made her WNBA debut, beginning the quarter on the court
Guard Odyssey Sims found Hamby, who caught the ball and finished with an alley-oop layup to make the score 32-29, Mercury, with 6:12 left in the half
King tipped the ball to herself several times to corral the offensive rebound, setting up Plum's second three-pointer of the game, which cut the Sparks deficit to one point, 33-32
L.A. took its first lead at 34-33 since the first quarter (9-8) after two made free throws by Stevens.
Stevens went 4-for-6 in FG, 2-for-3 in three-pointers and 5-for-6 in free throws with seven rebounds and a block. She scored 15 points and recorded seven rebounds in the first half, both game highs
The Sparks went on a 23-3 run to take a nine-point lead, 42-33, with 3:37 left in the half
Los Angeles shot 46.9% from the floor and 40.0% from beyond the arc, compared to 36.1% and 35.3%, respectively by Phoenix
Third Quarter:
The Mercury began the third on an 11-0 run before Barker ended the run with a layup, cutting the Sparks' deficit to 53-48 at the 6:28 mark
Sania Feagin made her WNBA debut with 1:09 remaining in the third
Cannon hit a three-pointer, her first of the season, with 56 seconds left in the quarter to cut the Mercury lead to 63-53
Fourth Quarter:
King opened the third-quarter scoring with a layup
Plum, Stevens and Hamby combined for 29 points in the fourth quarter. Plum herself led all fourth-quarter scorers with 14 points (4-for-6 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 4-for-5 3PT)
The Sparks went 11-for-18 (61.1%) from the field in the fourth, outscoring the Mercury 33-23
Stevens led all rebounders with seven boards in the fourth. She also scored eight points in the final quarter
Main Takeaways:
With her fourth three-pointer of the game, Plum reached 500 career three-pointers made
Barker made the first start of her WNBA career, finishing the game with two points, four assists and one rebound in 28 minutes
In Sims' 200th career WNBA start, she amassed eight points, three rebounds and four assists
Stevens became the fourth-ever Spark to have 15 or more rebounds in franchise history, joining Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and Dearica Hamby.
Stevens matched her career high record in rebounds with 17 in tonight's game and set a new career high with 16 defensive rebounds
Pregame Sparks HC Lynne Roberts Quotes:
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
On signing Liatu King to a rest-of-season hardship contract:
"It was an easy decision to bring [Liatu King] back, to provide depth in that wing spot. What she's really good at is creating other possessions. She's an incredible rebounder on both ends of the ball. She can defend... I just want her to be herself, be that great athlete who has a great understanding of what we're trying to do."
On veteran mentorship for the rookies:
"I think Kelsey [Plum] and Dearica [Hamby] both lead by example... I'm very fortunate to have those two as our veteran leaders. They do it without ego. They do it with encouragement, and they understand that for us to be as good as we can be, we need everybody."
On coaching and increasing Sarah Ashlee Barker's role:
"[Sarah Ashlee Barker] has a competitive spirit that I absolutely love coaching... She plays her tail off and she's one of our best catch-and-shoot three-point shooters, so I anticipate her to continue... I've been really impressed with her mental and physical toughness."
Postgame Press-Conference Quotes:
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
On how the game went for the Sparks:
"I'm proud of our team for fighting back twice, getting in kind of some double-digit holes there, and fought back."
On Liatu King's performance in her first Sparks game this season:
"I'm impressed with [Liatu King]. She's just a competitor. And what I said before the game kind of rang true in her minutes, like, she has the ability to create extra possessions for us. So she got a couple key boards, had an impressive tip-in offensive rebound in traffic, got a big charge call - those are all big plays. They don't really maybe stand out in the stat sheet, but I thought she did a tremendous job with just having been with the team for about 24 hours."
On the Sparks' priorities in defining the team's offensive identity:
"We want to play with pace, and [Kelsey Plum], as I've said, is the head of the snake. And I trust her, I know her teammates trust her to put us on our back in that capacity. I thought she was playing with great pace tonight ... The ball wasn't moving enough, I guess I would say, but I do think we have the ability to play even faster in the full court after we get a rebound. I think some of our best offense tonight was in transition, so not losing sight of that.
On why the Mercury were able to take advantage in the third quarter:
"They executed better than we did. I mean, that's it. And ... we got to where we knew we needed a bucket, and sometimes it's hard as a player when your team needs a bucket to not try to do too much, and we were just trying to make things happen, but again, proud of the fight to come back and we'll get better."
Kelsey Plum
On why she takes the blame for the team's third quarter struggles:
"I gotta figure out when teams load up how to make them pay. It is a new system, and so, a lot of times in this league, it's a fine line between [the] most aggressive player wins, but then also like Coach said, not trying to do it yourself, so definitely a learning experience."
Azurá Stevens
On Sarah Ashlee Barker's performance:
"[Sarah Ashlee Barker] had a difficult assignment guarding Satou [Sabally], but I think she came out and just gave it her all, and she's been showing us that from Day One. [She's] just really tough, knows when to make the right plays, locked in on what we're trying to do offensively, but defensively, she's been really tough and solid, so it was impressive to see that."
What's Next?: The Sparks return home for a three-game homestand, beginning Friday, May 23 vs. the Golden State Valkyries (7 p.m.). Los Angeles will then host the Chicago Sky Sunday, May 25 (3 p.m.) and the Atlanta Dream Tuesday, May 27 (7 p.m.).
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