Effort and execution. Grit and determination. All of it gave the Sparks an opportunity to win with 11.1 seconds left in their game against the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. And Sparks guard Jordin Canada (5'6''-PG-1995, college: UCLA) delivered. Her team trailing by two points, Canada drained a contested 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left, and the Sparks held on for a 79-78 win. Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (5'8''-PG-1995, college: Ohio St.) had a chance to win the game but missed a 25-foot 3-point attempt at the buzzer. 'It feels good to win the game-winning shot, I was feeling confident all night in shooting and I just tried to make a play and it went in. That's it,' Canada said with a smile and a chuckle. The Sparks (8-15) scored seven of the final nine points to secure their first victory since beating Dallas in back-to-back games in late June. All-Star forward Nneka Ogwumike (6'3''-F-1990, college: Stanford) scored a season-high 30 points, Canada had 20 and forward Azura Stevens contributed 15 as the trio combined for 65 points and actually outscored Indiana 39-38 in the first half to help give the Sparks a 47-38 advantage at the intermission. 'That's where we lock into what our strengths are, which is that composure and bringing the focus and the energy with us knowing that we can weather the storm,' Ogwumike said. 'We started the game off well today, coming out with energy. That's on us and the first five. We have to come out with as much energy as we can and each game when you have intention and a focus, it channels that energy toward something and so I think we're understanding how we can do that each game with different opponents.' 'I think we're building our chemistry we're doing a better job of communicating and talking amongst each other and seeing what works, what doesn't work and just being aggressive and being patient,' Canada added. 'We keep our composure, which is something that is really good with this. We celebrate each other. We encourage each other. We fight. We compete day in and day out and we're going to continue to build on this win, but it's all about sticking together in the locker room, on the court, off the court and that's what it's all about.' Indiana guard Victoria Vivians (6'2''-G-1994, college: MSU)' three-point play capped a 12-4 run to begin the second half, which cut the Sparks' lead to 51-50. Indiana took a 61-60 lead on a mid-range jumper by All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell late in the third quarter and still led for much of the fourth but the Sparks stayed within reach. Vivians gave her team a five-point lead with 3:36 left, but an Ogwumike basket, a Canada free throw and a pair of Ogwumike free throws tied the score at 72-all with 2:08 left. Fever point guard Erica Wheeler, who played for the Sparks in 2021, made a layup 10 seconds later and Kelsey Mitchell's stepback jumper pushed Indiana's lead to 76-72 with 1:30 left. A Stevens jumper got the Sparks back within two points with 1:13 left, but a pair of Wheeler free throws gave Indiana a 78-74 advantage with 57 seconds to go. Ogwumike grabbed a loose ball in the paint and scored to pull the Sparks within 78-76 with 38.1 seconds left. Indiana worked the clock on its next possession, but Vivians was off on a long 3-point attempt at the end of the shot clock, setting the stage for Canada's go-ahead basket. After Canada made her 3-pointer, Indiana's Mitchell had a decent look from the top of the 3-point arc but it didn't hit the rim. Ogwumike added eight rebounds and three assists for the Sparks. Canada added 10 assists and three steals and Stevens grabbed six rebounds and had three blocked shots to round out her night. 'Those three really carried us but more importantly they led by example with the energy and effort that we talked about that this game was going to come down to,' Sparks coach Curt Miller said. Mitchell (19 points) set the pace for Indiana (6-17) and Vivians finished with 17 points. Wheeler had 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while Fever rookie center Aliyah Boston battled foul trouble and was held to nine points and four rebounds in 26 minutes. 'You have to keep playing. It's going to be physical so I'm not going to back down, especially when it comes to those tight games. You can't be scared and at the end of the day, you just have to play the game,' Ogwumike said. 'I'm always someone who wants to respect the game and play the game, so I'm going to be as aggressive as I can and get the calls that look like calls.' Ogwumike started strong and the Sparks used an 11-3 run to open a 31-25 lead with 7:16 remaining in the second period. The Sparks used a 14-7 surge, capped by Canada's buzzer-beating layup for their 47-38 halftime lead. 'Our playbooks mirror each other, very similar actions the paint is important to both of us,' Miller said before the game. 'Getting the ball off the dribble to the paint, throw it into the post so who has a good night points-in-the-paint-wise could be a big factor or who plays in the paint and creates more open (3-point attempts).' The Sparks had 22 points in the paint in the first half, shooting 55.9% from the field and 44.4% from 3-point range. The Sparks ended up narrowly outscoring Indiana 38-36 in the paint. Sparks veteran point guard Jasmine Thomas, who ended up playing four minutes off the bench, believed her team was due for a breakthrough if they could put together a complete effort. 'Just playing a full 40 minutes,' Thomas said before tip-off. 'I feel like in our last game against Dallas we did a lot of stuff good offensively but then gave up a lot of points on the defensive end so I think staying locked in on both sides for 40 minutes (will be the difference between winning and losing).' At this point in the season, Miller said he's coaching effort and consistently reminding his team what it takes to win in the WNBA. 'We have to play each and every possession as hard as we can and then if they're feeling fatigued, then we ask for them to ask for a sub and we get that bench in there and try to keep up the intensity and keep up the effort,' Miller said. The teams will square off again Thursday afternoon.
Courtesy of: pressenterprise.com
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