After a draining battle in Game 1 in Los Angeles, the Sparks pulled out the win and have their eyes set on an WNBA championship. But in order for the task to be accomplished they must close out the Silver Stars in San Antonio.
Having the reminder of the 2008 debacle in San Antonio where Sophia Young's jumper with .6 seconds left in the game gave the Silver Stars the win and its only appearance in the WNBA Finals. Candace Parker, Nneka Oguwmike, and company were determined to not allow that to happen this year.
The Sparks came out clicking on all cylinders going on a 12-0 run early on in the first quarter. However as the quarter progressed, the Silver Star went on a quiet 6-0 run to trail the Sparks 23-16. The Sparks maintained their poise behind a sharp Kristi Toliver, who extended the lead with a huge three pointer over Danielle Adams to end the first quarter up 26-16.
The second quarter for the Sparks and Silver Stars continued to be a tight battle. Near the end of the quarter, Parker lost the handle, but gained it back and launches a shot from half court right at the buzzer for three, and makes it for the 44-40 halftime lead.
Delisha Milton-Jones continued to shoot well as she knocked a three pointer that capped off a 15-2 run by the Sparks. They led the Silver Stars 73-51 with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter. Alana Beard scored an amazing lay up that extended the lead 75-57.
The Silver Stars trailed by as much as 22 points to begin the fourth quarter. By opting to go with a smaller line up, the Silver Stars completed a 13-0 run thanks to back to back three pointers by Perkins and Christon to trail the Sparks 82-74. Later on in the quarter Christon scored five straight point to even up the score at 90. Becky Hammond attempted to take the lead on a three pointer that bounced in and out, then Danielle Robinson tried to connect on a jumped that went in and out.
As the Sparks watched their lead slip away, the final two minutes belonged to them. They went 7 for 8 at the free throw line along with playing the aggressive style they played in the beginning by snatching rebounds. Rookie Nneka Oguwmike hit a huge jumper that gave the Sparks the 92-90 lead. Once the Silver Stars were forced to foul Parker connected at the line for two free throws for the 94-90 lead. Then Parker who was double teamed in the line made a sweet turn left hand jumper in the lane for the bucket.
Several trips to the free throw line later by Parker, sealed the deal as the Sparks held on for the 101-94 victory and swept the Silver Star out of the playoffs.
Sparks Candace Parker finished with 32 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assist, along with Kristi Toliver who added 23 points. Alana Beard finished with 17 points, and DeLisha Milton-Jones finished with 10 points for the Sparks.
Silver Stars Sophia Young finished with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Jia Perkins added 16 points, Becky Hammon finished with 15 points and 3 assist. Coming off the bench Danielle Adams scored 12 points and Shameka Christon finished with 11 points.
"I will never forget that. Today, it wasn't necessarily a shot, but it was going through my head as they made their run. This would be a historic comeback for them if they beat us and we had to go back to L.A. to play. It came down to a couple of possessions and we were able to capitalize," said Candace Parker on the team's execution.
Kristi Toliver talked about the Sparks shot selection down the stretch, "we got stops and we tried to win the battle of the boards and get out and run to get those easy possessions. We didn't want to settle for jump shots, we wanted to be aggressive and get good shots."
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