Kelsey Plum scored 37 points in her Los Angeles debut and the Sparks ruined the debut of the Golden State Valkyries with an 84-67 victory on Friday night at San Francisco.
Plum made 11 of 19 field-goal attempts, including four 3-pointers, and knocked down all 11 free-throw attempts while falling three points shy of her career high. She also contributed six assists and five steals in helping the Sparks win their first game under new coach Lynne Roberts.
Dearica Hamby recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds and Rickea Jackson added 13 points for Los Angeles, which is coming off a franchise-worst 8-32 season. Azura Stevens had 11 points for the Sparks.
Tiffany Hayes had 19 points and nine rebounds for Golden State, the WNBA’s first expansion franchise since 2008. Temi Fagbenle added 15 points and Julie Vanloo scored 14 off the bench for the squad coached by Natalie Nakase.
Los Angeles shot 46 percent from the field and was 7 of 19 from 3-point range.
The Valkyries made 36.5 percent of their attempts, and were just 9 of 35 from behind the arc.
The Sparks led 42-39 at halftime before Plum erupted with 17 third-quarter points.
Plum scored 12 of those points during a 15-3 spurt to turn her team’s three-point lead into a 62-47 advantage with 3:11 left in the quarter.
Vanloo suddenly was hotter than lava while drilling three 3-pointers in 44 seconds as the Valkyries moved within six with 2:07 remaining.
Los Angeles led 66-60 entering the final stanza. But a steal and layup under the basket by Sims and five straight free throws by Sims (three) and Plum (two) helped the Sparks take a 73-62 advantage with 5:18 left in the contest.
A 15-footer by Plum pushed the Los Angeles lead to 80-65 with 2:12 left. She capped her big outing with a layup with 52 seconds left.
Plum had 11 first-half points to help Los Angeles lead by three at the break. Fagbenle had 13 in the half for Golden State.
The Sparks lost Rae Burrell to a potentially serious lower right leg injury in the first quarter. Burrell was carried off the court by two of her teammates.
–Field Level Media
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