Julie Allemand and Dearica Hamby lead Sparks to third straight win
When Julie Vanloo drew her second traveling violation before halftime, the crowdβs disapproval rose in unison.
On the floor, with tempers simmering on the Sparksβ bench, a delay-of-game whistle drew another round of jeers from the Crypto.com Arena crowd.
The calls werenβt the only sources of frustration for the Sparks β the team also was trailing the last-place Connecticut Sun by 10 points.
Still, the flare-up might have been what the Sparks needed to rally to a 102-91 victory over the Sun to earn their eighth win in nine games.
βSince the beginning of the season, Iβve been optimistic about what this team would look like and why I want to be here and why I want to continue to be here,β Dearica Hamby said. β[This team is] one of the fastest teams Iβve been with. … Weβre not done yet, weβve got a lot more to accomplish.β
After their deficit swelled to 13 points late in the second quarter, the Sparks (14-15) went on a 14-0 run, trimming the Sunβs lead to 51-49 by halftime.
In the third quarter, Hamby helped the Sparks keep pace with the Sun (5-24). Hamby racked up six points, an assist and a defensive rebound over four minutes.
A three-pointer by Rae Burrell late in the third quarter gave the Sparks a 66-64 lead. The Sun managed to tie it in the fourth quarter before a Cameron Brink three with 8:06 left gave the Sparks the lead for good.
The Sparksβ Rickea Jackson, left, Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell during the fourth quarter Thursday.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
βWeβve hung in there and, as Iβve said, didnβt lose sight of the big picture when we had all those injuries and a lot of adversity,β Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. βWeβve had a lot of adversity in that sense, and took some tough losses. But itβs a great group. Theyβre good people and they want this team to do well.β
Julie Allemand was a consistent force throughout the game, finishing with 10 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds to become the 22nd player in WNBA history to record a triple-double.
βShe was just dialing today, she was really good,β Roberts said. βIt was impossible in the second half to take her out of the game. … She was just unbelievable.β
From the opening quarter β when Allemand flashed her handle with a flurry of steps, an in-and-out dribble and a hard drive before dishing to Rickea Jackson for a three-pointer at the extended elbow β the Allemand Act didnβt let up.
She proved to be an essential floor general for the Sparks, as the Sun held leading scorer Kelsey Plum to just one point in the first half.
βKP didnβt have a great offensive first half,β Allemand said. βIβm trying as a point guard to see what I need to do to help this team β if itβs scoring, if itβs rebounding, playing defense, offense, depending how [to] fuel my teammates on the court, and I think thatβs what I did today.β
Hamby finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists and Jackson scored 20 points. Plum surged in the second half to finish with 18 points and Burrell had nine points off the bench.
With Brink back proving to be strong on both ends β she finished with 11 points, five blocks and two rebounds β the Sparks turned Crypto.com Arenaβs boos into all cheers by the end of the game.