Strong Defense Powers Sparks Past Mystics
WNBA Los Angeles Sparks

Strong Defense Powers Sparks Past Mystics

Published on August 31, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Los Angeles Sparks News Release


Washington Mystics (16-25) at Los Angeles Sparks (18-20)

Attendance: 12,218

Postgame Press Conference featuring Head Coach Lynne Roberts, Dearica Hamby & Azurá Stevens

Press Conference Link

Passcode: 8IdJF&sq

Game Leaders:

Mystics

PTS - Kiki Iriafen (22)

REB - Kiki Iriafen (13)

AST - Jade Melbourne (5)

Sparks

PTS - Dearica Hamby (20)

REB - Dearica Hamby/Azurá Stevens (12)

AST - Kelsey Plum (7)

Main Takeaways:

Dearica Hamby recorded a team-high 20 points and team-high-tying 12 rebounds to tally her 11th double-double of the season, tied for sixth in the league, and the 53rd of her career. Hamby recorded the 100th block of her career, standing at 15th on the Sparks' all-time blocks list. In the game, she surpassed 1,500 made field goals in her career

Rickea Jackson notched 16 points, recording her 11th consecutive game with multiple threes made. This is the longest such streak in franchise history and the second-longest streak in the WNBA this season. In five of her past seven games, she's drained at least three triples. The forward has now passed the 100-threes mark in her second WNBA season

Kelsey Plum scored 18 points and dished out seven assists, finishing with a game-high +22 rating

Azurá Stevens tied Hamby for a team-high 12 rebounds. The forward-center also tallied nine points (2-for-2 FT) and four assists

The Sparks secured 33 defensive rebounds, their second-highest number this season.

The Sparks limited the Mystics to 31 first-half points, their fewest allowed in a first half this season. Washington shot just 29.7% from the field and 27.3% from deep in the half

Los Angeles led by as many as 14 and trailing, only once by a single point

First Quarter:

The Sparks opened scoring for the match with a three-point shot by forward Rickea Jackson

The Sparks jumped out to a 12-0 lead to begin the game, holding the Mystics scoreless through the 4:54 mark of the first quarter

Forward Dearica Hamby finished a cutting layup off of a Kelsey Plum assist to give the Sparks' an 11-point lead at the 1:01 mark

With only 18 seconds left in the first quarter, guard Sarah Ashlee Barker drained a triple off an assist from guard Julie Vanloo to make the score 22-9, Sparks advantage

Jackson led the Sparks in first-quarter scoring with eight points (2-for-5 3PT, 2-for-2 FT)

Hamby and Julie Allemand led the game in first-quarter rebounds with five and four, respectively. Allemand also recorded two steals

The Sparks limited the Mystics to 31 first-half points, the fewest they've allowed in a first half this season

Los Angeles held Washington to 11 points in the opening period, the fewest scored by a Sparks opponent in the first quarter this season. Washington shot just 16.7% from the field

Second Quarter:

Forward Cameron Brink finished a putback layup to begin second-quarter scoring for L.A.

The Sparks went on a 7-0 run in less than a minute to retake the lead 32-25 with five minutes remaining in the first half

With only 19 seconds left in the first half, Allemand converted a driving layup to deepen the Sparks' lead 40-31

The Sparks shot 40% from the field and 87.5% (7-for-8 FT) from the free-throw line in the first half

Jackson and Hamby led the game in scoring at the half, with 11 and 10 respectively. Hamby and Azurá Stevens led the Sparks with six rebounds each

Los Angeles outscored Washington in fast break points 11-2 and points in the paint 18-10, leading by as many as 13 and not trailing in the contest once

Third Quarter:

Stevens opened scoring for the Sparks in the second half with a triple at the 7:40 mark off a Plum assist

Hamby went coast-to-coast for an easy layup to extend the Sparks' lead to nine. On the next Los Angeles possession, Brink buried a corner three to force a Mystics timeout

Jackson's three-pointer off a Burrell assist with 51 seconds left in the quarter increased the Sparks' lead to 55-47

Stevens secured a game-high five rebounds in the quarter

Los Angeles assisted on 83.3% (5-for-6) of their makes in the third quarter

Fourth Quarter:

Plum's two made free throws reclaimed the Sparks' lead at 57-56 with seven minutes to go in the final period

Plum hit back-to-back threes at the 4:07 mark off an Allemand assist and 3:31 to make the score 71-65, Sparks' advantage

Allemand's steal led to a Burrell transition layup at the 2:37 mark to further Los Angeles' lead 75-67

Fourteen (3-for-4 FG, 2-for-2 3PT, 6-for-6 FT) of Plum's 18 total points came in the fourth quarter. The veteran-guard also tied for a quarter-high three assists

L.A. led by as many as 10 in the fourth, shooting 44.4% from the floor, 40% from deep and 80% from the free-throw line in the quarter

Pregame Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On managing Rickea Jackson's injury battle ahead of tonight's game:

"Hopefully she's able to go, but we also need to be smart. It's just an ankle, and it will be literally a game-time decision. Rickea [Jackson]'s a competitor, and she wants to win, and she wants to help her team win. I'm proud of her. She's shown a lot of toughness right now. I think she knows what's at stake, and she knows how important she is to our team, but this isn't our last game. We just need to be smart and see how she feels. It's one of those things where you get taped, get out there, see if you can help the team. If so, let's go. If not, then let's rest it. So that's where it's at."

On last game and the team's mindset heading into tonight's game:

"I think if you look at our last game, we can say that they played well, but we also didn't rebound very well and we turned it over. So, regardless of the opponent, I want to see us improve in those two areas. We gave up 15 boards last game and only had three. Then we turned it over 22 times, which we have not done in [what] feels like months. Yes, we're playing Washington and that presents its own scout, but those are two things that we've gotta be better at, and the first half will show. We all know what we're playing for and there's definitely a focus. We didn't practice yesterday, we met and had film, and so I think rest and recovery is paramount right now. For all of us, me as the coach, them as players, we've got to show up and give it our absolute best. I have no doubt our players will do that. They are professionals, they're competitors, they want to win, [and] they want to perform."

Postgame Quotes:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On Kelsey Plum's defensive efforts:

"She did a really good job on [Kelsey] Mitchell, too. Kelsey [Plum]'s really smart, and understands the game, and understands what the other team's trying to do, and so is [Sonia] Citron. I thought [Plum] did just a tremendous job. She was 3-for-6 going into that last field goal at the buzzer, which is a tremendous job. Kelsey's stronger than she looks and tougher than you would guess. [She's] really smart and really hardworking, and was really good tonight."

On fighting through a rocky second half of play:

"We got a little sloppy... I thought in the second and third [quarters], we were settling for threes when we needed to be attacking. We shot 36 threes, which is a lot, and I'm okay with that, but you need to shoot better than 27% if you're gonna shoot that many. I think what you saw was we put [Kelsey Plum] at the 1 for a little bit just so she could get the ball in her hands. They were doing a good job of top-blocking her and making every catch really hard. Defenses are so keyed on her, I thought she did a good job of choosing her spots. [Dearica Hamby] was just a beast on the boards, and finishing in traffic, and those and-ones, she's just so strong and athletic. They showed their experience, and [Azurá Stevens] did a great job defensively, but we have to be better at putting teams away. But we took care of business, and at this point, it's [time to] advance and move on."

Dearica Hamby

On the Sparks' defensive performance tonight:

"We know how talented [Sonia] Citron is, so our game plan was to make other people take shots and we did that. I would even say going off the last game [against the Indiana Fever], I felt we had a good defensive game. It didn't turn into victory, but I think we're just trending in the right direction."

On her scoring against the Mystics:

"I think [the key is] just staying patient. I felt like [in] the first half, I scored but they took away the pocket pass, which is what I'm usually good at, and so I felt like they were just honing in on the pick-and-roll action, so [I was] just staying patient and I felt like it kind of opened up the second half."

Azurá Stevens

On messaging from the Sparks' leaders:

"We know [what's] at stake, but [we're] just trying to break it down to each possession matters and not getting too caught up in, 'oh, we gotta win X amount of games.' We know the circumstances, but all we can control is the next possession, so just trying to make sure we lock in on Washington, and now [we have] Seattle tomorrow. [We're] just taking it day by day and really focusing on us - our defense, our rebounding, our pace on offense, just really looking in at us as a team and just chopping day by day."

What's Next?:

The Sparks hit the road for a crucial three-game trip against the Seattle Storm (Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. PT) and the Atlanta Dream (Sept. 3 at 4:30 p.m. PT & Sept. 5 at 4:30 p.m. PT).

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