Shock loses first game of season
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Associated Press
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 08, 2009 00:00
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Sparks easily beat the defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock 78-58 on Saturday in the season opener.
New signing Tina Thompson had 18 points and Betty Lennox added 17 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, which was without star Candace Parker, who is off after giving birth and due to return next month.
Los Angeles wore jerseys bearing the logo of the Farmers Insurance Group. The Sparks and the Phoenix Mercury became the first teams in the league to form jersey sponsorship deals.
In Atlanta, Chamique Holdsclaw scored 23 points in her first game in two years to lead Atlanta Dream to a 87-86 victory over Indiana Fever.
Holdsclaw, who retired after playing just five games for Los Angeles in 2007, came two points shorts of becoming the ninth player in WNBA history to score 4,000 career points. She got her 300th career steal.
It was a promising start to the new season for Atlanta, which set a league record last season by losing its first 17 games and finished a woeful 1-16 at home in its inaugural season.
In Phoenix, the Mercury rallied to beat San Antonio Silver Stars 90-79 in a match of the previous two Western Conference champions. Diana Taurasi scored 25 points and Cappie Pondexter added 23 for Phoenix.
Also Saturday it was Connecticut Mystics 82, Washington Sun 70, Seattle Storm 71, Sacramento Monarchs 61 and Minneapolis Lynx 102, Chicago Sky 85.
Los Angeles wore jerseys bearing the logo of the Farmers Insurance Group. The Sparks and the Phoenix Mercury became the first teams in the league to form jersey sponsorship deals.
In Atlanta, Chamique Holdsclaw scored 23 points in her first game in two years to lead Atlanta Dream to a 87-86 victory over Indiana Fever.
Holdsclaw, who retired after playing just five games for Los Angeles in 2007, came two points shorts of becoming the ninth player in WNBA history to score 4,000 career points. She got her 300th career steal.
It was a promising start to the new season for Atlanta, which set a league record last season by losing its first 17 games and finished a woeful 1-16 at home in its inaugural season.
In Phoenix, the Mercury rallied to beat San Antonio Silver Stars 90-79 in a match of the previous two Western Conference champions. Diana Taurasi scored 25 points and Cappie Pondexter added 23 for Phoenix.
Also Saturday it was Connecticut Mystics 82, Washington Sun 70, Seattle Storm 71, Sacramento Monarchs 61 and Minneapolis Lynx 102, Chicago Sky 85.