Sparks flew in LA against the Wings

The 6-3 Sparks defeated the Wings 97-87 to stay perfect at home (4-0). The defending WNBA champions held the Wings to a season low 8 points in the first quarter.

Chelsea Gray led the Sparks with 24 points for the second straight game. Nneka Ogwumike chipped in 21 and Candace Parker added 17. The Sparks had 5 players reach double figures on Tuesday night for a second straight game.

Skylar Diggins-Smith recorded a season high of 28 points. Diggins-Smith scored 10 points in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter for the Wings. Glory Johnson recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Wings are now 4-7 on the season and 2-4 on the road.

Quotables

 

Head Coach Brian Agler

On what he liked about the game:

“I liked how our focus was during the beginning of the game, I felt that we defended well during the first quarter. They [Dallas Wings] are a tough team to play against. They are constantly taking things to the basket, I think they leave the league in free throw attempts, they space the floor very aggressively but I liked our focus. We got a lead and we sustained it.  They got back in it a couple of times and we went back up. Overall, I thought it was a really good game for us.”

 

Head Coach Fred Williams

On play against the defending champions:

“It’s always good to do better with champions. It’s good for our younger players for them to develop and understand the toughness of the game whether being at home or being on the road. But I think we’ve shown that we’re a relentless team and we won’t finish out or teams will blow us out, we’ll make it always a game.”

Up Next

The Sparks will host the San Antonio Stars at the Staples Center on Thursday.

The Wings will return home to host the New York Liberty on Friday.