Sparks rally falls short from 28 down in the fourth against Liberty
Rey Moralde
Host · Writer
NEW YORK — It was another loss but it was going to look like their worst loss of the season. The Liberty were up by 28 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
But the Sparks bore down and went on a preposterous run. The Sparks were actually able to get it down to one at one point before they ran out of time. The Liberty escaped with the win, 85-81.
"I was really proud of the fight. We're down 28, and we played with a lot of fearlessness," Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. "Rae (Burrell) got going. We were figuring out what actions could work against their length. We gave up 11 O-boards (offensive rebounds) in the first half, only three in the second half.
"We are continuing to, you know, learn the hard way about putting four quarters together," Roberts continued. "But we can walk out of here with our heads high in terms of the fight. It would have been easy for these guys to just kind of roll over and die but they fought and so that's the culture we want."
Rae Burrell caught fire in the fourth. She scored 20 points in the period alone.
"Yeah, my career high, so yeah, I would say so," Burrell laughed after being asked if this was the most she had ever been on fire. "I felt like I was just trying to make the right reads and they kept going back to me so I just wanted to make sure that I stayed confident in choosing when to go and when to pass. I just was trying to take the right shots. And my team, like I said, just put me in great positions to do so."
The Sparks outscored the Liberty, 40-18, in the fourth. And because of the immense lead, it still wasn't enough.
"Yeah, I think we were just into them more," Sparks forward Dearica Hamby said about their fourth quarter defense. "And we were being more disruptive and dictating what we wanted them to do versus them just kind of cutting full speed and just getting whatever they wanted."
Hamby is very proud of her younger teammate Burrell.
"Yeah, I'm just super proud of her," Hamby said. "I know that confidence move she talks about, I've witnessed. And I just appreciate our relationship. I can talk to her and she's receptive and she knows that anything I'm saying, I have good intention for her. I want her to succeed. So I've seen her put the work in, literally. She would be in my house. So just really, really proud of her."
The 40 points in the fourth was the most points ever in a quarter for the team. Also, keep in mind that WNBA games only have 10 minutes per quarter compared to 12 for the MNBA.
Roberts never really considered taking her starters out despite the big lead.
"Yeah, I've never really done that," Roberts said when asked about taking her starters out in the fourth. "I'm not good at losing. Or throwing in the towel. This is not who I am, that's not who I want us to play. Certainly if ithe lead had gotten bigger, we hadn't closed into it then we probably would have. But we started to make a run at the fourth, end of the third, end of the fourth. And at that point, we're playing to win and was conscious of the timeouts. All the reviews kind of helped us a little bit just in terms of getting those little breaks that weren't called timeouts. So I was trying to sprinkle those in there, too, to get rest but I felt like we were right there. Another 30 seconds in the game could have been a different outcome.
"But again, proud of these guys. We had a shot to tie it. And that's all you can ask for."
Burrell and Cameron Brink collided heads at the start of the fourth. Burrell somehow banged in a three-pointer after the collision. Brink stayed down and eventually stayed in the game for a bit more before ultimately leaving after receiving a shot at the ribs from Breanna Stewart's drive.
The Sparks went on a massive 21-0 lead to make it a game. Eventually, Burrell was able to cut the deficit to one with 22 seconds left. After free throws, the Sparks had a chance to tie with a three-pointer but Ariel Atkins' attempt was short and hit rim. Sabrina Ionescu made one of two free throws to put it away.
Ionescu led the Liberty with 20 points while Jonquel Jones dominated the glass with 18 rebounds to go along with her 11 points.
Burrell scored a career-high 28 points. As mentioned, she had 20 in the fourth. Hamby put in 16 points while Nneka Ogwumike had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.
It's no rest for the weary. The Sparks (12-21) will attempt to break a three-game losing streak as they take on those young homegirls in the Washington Mystics.
