Sunday, August 31, 2008
LOS ANGELES —
Lisa Leslie scored four of her 18 points and added a blocked shot in the final 1:39, and the Los Angeles Sparks rallied for a 58-53 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars on Saturday night.Candace Parker added 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Sparks (17-12), who have won three consecutive games after losing six of eight. Shannon Bobbitt contributed 10 points.
Becky Hammon had 17 points and seven assists for the Silver Stars (19-10), who fell into a first-place tie with Seattle in the Western Conference. Ann Wauters added 13 points.
San Antonio led 53-49 with 2:39 to play but failed to score the rest of the game to set a franchise record for fewest points in a game.
Bobbitt made a 3-pointer to narrow the deficit to 53-52 with 2:17 left. Leslie followed with two free throws with 1:39 left to put the Sparks ahead 54-53, and her 5-foot jumper extended the lead to 56-53 with 40.5 seconds remaining.
Leslie then blocked Sophia Young's jumper with 19.2 seconds to play. After the Sparks received the ball on a turnover, Bobbitt made a free throw with 15.8 seconds left.
Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt attended the game with Sparks co-owners Carla Christofferson and Katherine Goodman.
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