{"id":16469,"date":"2025-06-09T22:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T05:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/?p=16469"},"modified":"2025-06-09T22:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T05:59:08","slug":"sparks-fall-to-valkyries-in-overtime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/sparks-fall-to-valkyries-in-overtime\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparks Fall to Valkyries in Overtime"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Sparks Come Up Short in Overtime Loss to Valkyries<\/h2>\n<p>The Los Angeles Sparks missed an opportunity for their first consecutive wins of the season in an 89-81 overtime loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby combined for 44 points, but the Sparks were outscored 11-3 in the 5-minute overtime period, missing eight of their nine field-goal attempts.<\/p>\n<h3>First Half<\/h3>\n<p>Plum had 24 points and seven assists and Hamby had 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Golden State\u2019s Kayla Thornton made a 3-pointer with 37.9 seconds left in overtime to help the visitors beat the Sparks (3-7) for the second time in three meetings so far this season. Plum missed what would have been a game-winning floater as time expired in regulation.<\/p>\n<h3>Post-Game Reaction<\/h3>\n<p>After the game, Plum went off about the officiating, noting that she only had six free-throw attempts (she made all of them) in 41 minutes. \u201cI\u2019m going to get fined for saying this but I drive more than anyone in the league so to shoot six free throws is [expletive] absurd,\u201d Plum said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve got scratches on my face, scratches on my body and these guards on the other team get this ticky-tack fouls and I\u2019m sick of it.<\/p>\n<h3>Coaching Perspective<\/h3>\n<p>Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said her team did not lack effort in the loss. \u201cWe just couldn\u2019t convert but I really think our players played their butts off,\u201d Roberts said after the game. \u201cWe just couldn\u2019t make shots and I would echo what Kelsey says.\u201d Roberts also expressed her support for Plum&#8217;s opinion on the officiating, saying &quot;Maybe I\u2019ll get fined too, that will be fun.&quot;<\/p>\n<h3>Game Highlights<\/h3>\n<p>The Sparks led 75-74 with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter. Sala\u00fcn drew a foul and made both free throws to give Golden State (4-5) a 76-75 lead with 47.5 seconds left. The Sparks regained the lead when Plum delivered a step-back 3-pointer with 37.8 seconds left. Thornton then missed a layup, but Temi F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9 grabbed the offensive rebound and rookie guard Carla Leite\u2019s finger roll tied the score at 78-all with 25.1 remaining.<\/p>\n<h3>Rebounding and Free Throws<\/h3>\n<p>Golden State dominated the glass, outrebounding the Sparks 49-34 (17-6 at the offensive end). The Valkyries finished the night 20 for 23 at the free-throw line, while the Sparks shot 14 for 19 at the free-throw line in the first half.<\/p>\n<h3>Up Next<\/h3>\n<p>The Sparks will play at Las Vegas (4-3) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Sparks are 0-1 against Las Vegas this season after losing 96-81 on the road on May 30.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The Sparks&#8217; overtime loss to the Golden State Valkyries was a disappointing result, especially given the strong performances from Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby. The team will look to bounce back in their next game against Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<h2>FAQs<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>What was the final score of the game? The final score was 89-81 in favor of the Golden State Valkyries.<\/li>\n<li>Who led the Sparks in scoring? Kelsey Plum led the Sparks with 24 points.<\/li>\n<li>What was the reason for Kelsey Plum&#8217;s frustration after the game? Plum was frustrated with the officiating, feeling that she was not getting enough foul calls despite driving to the basket frequently.<\/li>\n<li>What is the Sparks&#8217; next game? The Sparks will play at Las Vegas on Wednesday at 7 p.m.\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kelsey Plum goes off about not getting foul calls in the Sparks\u2019 89-81 overtime loss to the Golden State Valkyries at home.<\/p>\n<p>Plum said she anticipates being fined but she said it was important to advocate for herself.<\/p>\n<p>Sparks coach Lynne Roberts supported Plum\u2019s opinion. pic.twitter.com\/3zsJsb7YFV<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 10, 2025<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts on Rickea Jackson being back in the Sparks starting lineup and her defensive impact as a wing defender. pic.twitter.com\/xRfTMlgkF5<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 10, 2025<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Natalie Nakase on the Golden State Valkyries control their own destiny on the road against the Los Angeles Sparks. pic.twitter.com\/mpYVgv7Z8U<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 10, 2025<\/p>\n<p>Originally Published: June 9, 2025 at 9:55 PM PDT<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sparks Come Up Short in Overtime Loss to Valkyries The Los Angeles Sparks missed an opportunity for their first consecutive wins of the season in an 89-81 overtime loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby combined for 44 points, but the Sparks were outscored 11-3 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/imageedit_13_7347048985.jpg?w=1024&h=655&w=1024&resize=1024,655&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16471,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16469\/revisions\/16471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}