Sunday night would prove to be one of those interesting nights. The Sparks came out on fire, attacking in the first half, led by the charge of Tina Thompson who had 9 points and Kristi Toliver with 7 points, helped to creat a huge lead for the Sparks at halftime 47-25.
This game proved to be a tale of two halves, as Sparks guard Kristi Toliver who was 6 for 7 shooting had 21 points, and gave the team their largest lead in the third quarter, 51-27. The Mystics began to trim the lead down to 14 points by the end of the 3rd quarter, thanks to their secure defense and capitalizing on sloppy turnovers by the Sparks.
In the fourth quarter the Mystics began a 9-0 run to cut the lead down to a 6 point margin, and then ended up scoring 10 unanswered points to tie the game at 70-70. The Mystics battled back behind the sharp court play of Crystal Longhorne and a clutch 3-pointer by Marissa Coleman to take their first lead of the game 73-70.
Sparks guard Ticha Penicheiro made a spectacular steal and was then fouled on the play. Penicheiro made two key free throws with 24 seconds to go to give the Sparks the 77-75 lead. Mystics guard Matee Ajavon worked the clock in her favor and was fouled on a jumper with about 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. She made both free throws to the tie the game once again.
The Sparks had an excellent opportunity to snatch the victory, but Tina Thompson was unable to make a much needed lay-up which then allowed the game to go into overtime. The Mystics scored an amazing 29 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Overtime proved to be no advantage for the Sparks as they were outplayed down the stretch, thanks to outstanding play of Crystal Longhorne who had a double-double 24 points, 14 rebounds, Matee Ajavon lead all scorers with 29 points, and Marissa Coleman who lead the charge with a huge 10 points and 9 rebounds game to beat the Sparks at home in an impressive come from behind victory in front of a shocked crowd at Staples Center, 89-85.
The Mystics set a new come from behind record as it was held previously the Detroit Shock who came back from a 21 point deficit twice in WNBA history.
A shocked and disappointed Sparks guard Kristi Toliver who scored 21 points along with 7 assist talked about the weird turn of events in this game "The second half, we started playing slower and they [Mystics] were really aggressive. You know it's extremely disappointing for us to just give the game away like this."
Tina Thompson finished with 11 points, 3 rebounds and rookie Jantel Lavender also finished with 13 points and 3 rebounds.
This victory by the Mystics snapped a five game losing skid and gave them just their third victory on the season.
"With this team, I'm not surprised by anything at all. It just shows how much heart we have as a team. We're always going to fight back." says an elated Crystal Longhorne about the victory.
This is the first loss for head coach Joe Bryant, and he spoke about the second half meltdown "You have to make lay-ups and not turn the ball over. That's not going to get it done in this league. You have to protect the ball and play defense. But bottom line, you have to make your lay-ups and shots."
The Sparks will try to regroup as they try to turn the page and focus on their next Western Conference opponent Becky Hammond and the San Antonio Silver Stars on Monday night.
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