Mystics Fight Back and Fight Off Sparks
Mystics 77, Sparks 74 (OT)
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Friday, June 27, 2008; 3:26 AM
LOS ANGELES -- Monique Currie made a 3-pointer for the only scoring in overtime and had 24 points to lead the Washington Mystics to a 77-74 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday night.
Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie had 11 rebounds to become the first player in WNBA history to have 3,000 rebounds.
Alana Beard scored 17 points before fouling out and Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 12 points and a season-high 13 rebounds for the Mystics (6-8), who have won four of five.
"It's huge for us," Currie said. "It gives us a lot of confidence to start out this West Coast trip. We haven't been playing as well as we have liked, so this really changes the momentum and gives us a lot of energy."
Candace Parker scored 17 points and Leslie had 16 points and five blocks for the Sparks (10-4).
"It was a horrible game by us," Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "We've got to get us a point guard, somebody who can handle pressure and do all the things that we need her to do. We've just got to rebound from this."
Currie scored with 1:39 left in overtime and that was enough despite the Mystics having committed three turnovers on three consecutive possessions.
But the Sparks missed all eight of their shots in overtime, including Leslie's shot with 1:16 left and Raffaella Masciadri's 3-point attempt with 39.9 seconds remaining.
"In the overtime, our defense bailed us out," Mystics coach Wayne "Tree" Rollins said. "We were able to move the zone (defense) around enough to keep them off-balance."
Los Angeles used a 10-0 spree to build a 66-52 lead with 6:49 left in regulation. But the Sparks made only one basket in the final 8:34, and Washington made it 74-all on Coco Miller's 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds to go.
The Mystics made 55.6 percent of their 3-point shots but missed 14 of 27 free throws and committed 20 turnovers that enabled Los Angeles to score 19 points.
