LOS ANGELES SPARKS 2020 GAME NOTES Los Angeles Sparks (0-0) vs Connecticut Sun (1-0) September 17, 2020 Bradenton, FL | 6:00 p.m. (PT) | WNBA Playoffs: Round 2 Live on ESPN2 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE LAST GAME STARTERS Date Opponent Time/Result Record 7/25 at Phoenix W, 99-76 1-0 G 12 CHELSEA GRAY 5’11” 170 LBS 7/28 at Chicago L, 96-78 1-1 GP/GS 22/22 PPG 14.0 RPG 3.7 APG 5.3 SPG 1.5 FG% 44.2 3FG% 30.5 MPG 30.6 7/30 CONNECTICUT W, 81-76 2-1 8/1 at Seattle L, 81-75 2-2 G 15 BRITTNEY SYKES 5’9” 154 LBS 8/5 INDIANA W, 86-75 3-2 GP/GS 21/14 PPG 10.1 RPG 2.6 APG 2.1 SPG 1.5 FG% 48.7 3FG% 32.7 MPG 24.4 8/7 at Las Vegas L, 86-82 3-3 G 4 TE’A COOPER 5’8” 160 LBS 8/9 MINNESOTA W, 97-81 4-3 8/11 NEW YORK W, 93-78 5-3 GP/GS 20/3 PPG 7.0 RPG 1.0 APG 2.0 SPG 0.7 FG% 45.1 3FG% 34.4 MPG 17.3 8/13 at Washington W, 81-64 6-3 F 30 NNEKA OGWUMIKE 6’2” 174 LBS 8/15 at Indiana W, 90-76 7-3 8/19 PHOENIX W, 83-74 8-3 GP/GS 18/18 PPG 13.3 RPG 4.8 APG 1.7 SPG 1.1 FG% 56.9 3FG% 50.0 MPG 26.2 8/21 at Atlanta W, 93-85(OT) 9-3 F/C 3 CANDACE PARKER 6’4” 175 LBS 8/23 DALLAS W, 84-81 10-3 8/28 at Connecticut W, 80-76 11-3 GP/GS 22/22 PPG 14.7 RPG 9.7 APG 4.6 SPG 1.2 FG% 51.0 3FG% 39.6 MPG 30.0 8/30 ATLANTA W, 84-79 12-3 MATCHUP NOTES 8/31 at Minnesota L, 96-78 12-4 The Los Angeles Sparks (15-7) will make their first playoff appearance of the 2020 WNBA 9/2 at Dallas W, 91-83 13-4 postseason against the Connecticut Sun (10-12), Thursday at 6 p.m. PT in the second round of 9/4 SEATTLE L, 90-89 13-5 the playoffs. In the regular season, the No. 3 seed Sparks defeated the No. 7 seed Sun twice, 9/6 CHICAGO W, 86-80 14-5 sweeping the season series 2-0. 9/8 at New York W, 96-70 15-5 9/10 WASHINGTON L, 80-72 15-6 In the teams first meeting, four Sparks scored in double-digits including Parker (10), Ogwumike 9/12 LAS VEGAS L, 84-70 15-7 (14), Gray (15), and Augustus (13) as the Sparks won 81-76. Parker also grabbed 11 rebounds for one of her league-leading 10 double-doubles on the season. DeWanna Bonner scored a PLAYOFF SCHEDULE season-high 34 points. On Aug. 28, Gray scored a season high 27 points, followed by Nneka Date Opponent Time/Result Record Ogwumike with 17 as the Sparks won 80-76. Los Angeles held Bonner to 13 points in the teams 9/17 CONNECTICUT 6:00 p.m. -- second meeting. The Sparks franchise is 47-42 all-time in the playoffs, the most wins in WNBA *all times listed are Pacific Standard Time history. PLAYOFF MILESTONE WATCH SUN PROBABLE STARTERS PLAYER UPDATES PLAYER MILESTONE (CURRENT) NUM. PLAYER UPDATE C Brionna Jones 24 Sydney Wiese Questionable (right ankle sprain) G Briann January 10 Tierra Ruffin-Pratt Questionable (shoulder) Candace Parker 900 points (871) 200 assists (165) G Jasmine Thomas PRONOUNCIATION 500 rebounds (426) F Alyssa Thomas PLAYER/COACH PRONOUNCIATION 100 blocks (84) F DeWanna Bonner Seimone Augustus seh-MOAN 100 steals (75) Kristine Anigwe ahh-nihg-WAY HEAD COACH: Curt Miller Te’a Cooper TAY-uh Nneka Ogwumike 600 points (505) Marie Gülich GOO-lish 300 rebounds (272) Nneka Ogwumike NEH-kuh Oh-gwoo-MIH-kay 100 assists (58) ASSOCIATED PRESS FINAL POWER POLL Tierra Ruffin-Pratt tee-AIR-rah 100 steals (53) Week 9 Total Points High Low Sydney Wiese WEECE (rhymes with Reese) 1 Las Vegas 188 1 2 Riquna Williams rih-QUAN-uh Chelsea Gray 300 points (277) 2 Seattle 180 1 2 Assistant Coach Latricia Trammell TRAM-uhl 200 assists (109) 3 Los Angeles 160 3 3 CONTACT INFORMATION 100 rebounds (62) 4 Minnesota 144 4 4 Eli Horowitz 5 Phoenix 126 4 6 Director, Public Relations and Seimone Augustus 900 points (891) 6 Connecticut 105 5 7 Communications @LA_Sparks 300 rebounds (221) 7 Chicago 101 6 8 [email protected] 200 assists (152) 8 Washington 82 5 9 (847) 644-9932 100 steals (54) 9 Dallas 64 8 10 @LASparks 10 Atlanta 50 9 10 Natalie Gilmore Coordinator, Public Relations and 11 Indiana 32 11 11 Communications 12 New York 16 12 12 Los Angeles [email protected] Sparks LASparks.com @LA_Sparks PARKER NAMED ASSOCIATED PRESS DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, ALL-WNBA FIRST TEAM The Associated Press announced on Tuesday that a panel of 16 national media voters named Candace Parker the 2020 AP Defensive Player of the Year. She was also named to the AP’s All-WNBA First Team. In her 13th season in the league, Parker led the WNBA in rebounding for the third time in her career, averaging 9.7 per game. She grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 12 out of 22 games and was tied for first in the WNBA with 10 double-doubles. For the season, Parker averaged 14.7 points, 9.7 rebounds per game, and 4.6 assists per game, while shooting 51% from the field and 39.6% on 3-pointers. She’s the first player in WNBA history to average over 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and one block in a season while shooting over 50% from the field, per Across the Timeline. “When I made my decision to come to IMG this season, my focus was on working hard every day to help put our team in a position to win a championship. For us, that starts with defending at a high level and closing defensive possessions with a rebound,” Parker said. “Overall, our team has been able to do that and I’m honored to be recognized for my role on that end of the floor. The award is a testament to my teammates executing on defense and our entire coaching staff.” Parker was a force on the defensive end all season, using her athleticism and verticality to force the opposition into difficult, contested shots around the rim. She was fifth in the WNBA in total blocks (27) on the season, first in defensive rebounds (177) and first in total rebounds (214). She anchored a Sparks defense that finished third in the league in Defensive Rating and she personally finished third in defensive win shares and fourth in defensive rating, per Basketball Reference. HEAD COACH DEREK FISHER Coach Fisher led the Los Angeles Sparks to a 15-7 record, improving his regular season record to 37-19 (66.1% winning percentage) in his two seasons as head coach. Fisher is the fifth winningest coach in Sparks Franchise history, behind Joe Bryant (40). Regardless of last-minute changes, including six brand-new roster additions and the absence of Kristi Toliver, Chiney Ogwumike and Maria Vadeeva, Coach Fisher’s leadership has helped the Sparks find their momentum, including a nine-game winning streak. The Sparks finished third in the league and led the league in 3-point-percentage, shooting 40.8% from behind the arc in the regular season. Los Angeles finished second in the league in field goal percentage, a 5% increase from last year. With the conclusion of the 2020 regular season, the Sparks broke season franchise records in points per game (85.619), field goals made per game (32.4), three-point field goals made per game (7.33), and three-point field goal percentage (40.8). 2020 LOS ANGELES SPARKS ROSTER NUM. PLAYER POS. HT. YRS OF EXP. DOB COLLEGE 1 Reshanda Gray F 6’2” 3 06/10/93 California 2 Riquna Williams G 5’7” 7 05/28/90 Miami (Fla.) 3 Candace Parker F/C 6’4” 12 04/19/86 Tennessee 4 Te’a Cooper G 5’8” 1 04/16/97 Baylor 10 Tierra Ruffin-Pratt G 5’11” 7 04/11/91 North Carolina 12 Chelsea Gray G 5’11” 5 10/08/92 Duke 15 Brittney Sykes G 5’9” 3 02/07/94 Syracuse 21 Marie Gülich C 6’5” 2 05/28/94 Oregon State 24 Sydney Wiese G 6’0” 3 06/16/95 Oregon State 30 Nneka Ogwumike F 6’2” 8 07/02/90 Stanford 31 Kristine Anigwe F/C 6’4” 1 03/31/97 California 33 Seimone Augustus G/F 6’0” 14 04/30/84 Louisiana State LASparks.com @LA_Sparks 2020 LA SPARKS TEAM #1 #2 #3 #4 #10 #12 RESHANDA GRAY RIQUNA WILLIAMS CANDACE PARKER TE’A COOPER TIERRA RUFFIN-PRATT CHELSEA GRAY Position: F Position: G Position: F/C Position: G Position: G/F Position: G Height: 6’2” Height: 5’7” Height: 6’4” Height: 5’8” Height: 5’11” Height: 5’11” DOB: 6/1/93 DOB: 5/28/90 DOB: 4/19/86 DOB: 4/16/97 DOB: 4/11/91 DOB: 10/8/92 College: Cal-Berkeley College: Miami College: Tennessee College: Baylor College: North Carolina College: Duke #15 #21 #24 #30 #31 #33 BRITTNEY SYKES MARIE GÜLICH SYDNEY WIESE NNEKA OGWUMIKE KRISTINE ANIGWE SEIMONE AUGUSTUS Position: G Position: C Position: G Position: F Position: F Position: G/F Height: 5’9” Height: 6’5” Height: 6’0 Height: 6’2” Height: 6’4” Height: 6’0 DOB: 2/7/94 DOB: 5/28/94 DOB: 6/16/95 DOB: 7/2/90 DOB: 3/31/97 DOB: 4/30/84 College: Syracuse College: Oregon State College: Oregon State College: Stanford College: Cal-Berkeley College: LSU COACHING STAFF DEREK FISHER LATRICIA TRAMMELL KARI KORVER COURTNEY WATSON HEAD COACH ASSISTANT COACH ASSISTANT COACH DIRECTOR OF SPORTS MEDICINE/ HEAD ATHLETIC TRAINER TERRANCE GAINES THOMAS ARCHIE MICHAEL FISCHER TEAM MASSAGE BASKETBALL ASSISTANT THERAPIST OPERATIONS/ GENERAL SCOUT MANAGER LASparks.com @LA_Sparks SPARKS FRANCHISE ALL-TIME PLAYOFFS *Prior to 2020 WNBA Playoffs WNBA Championships All-Time Playoff Record Houston Comets* 4 Minnesota Lynx 4 Los Angeles Sparks (47-42) Los Angeles Sparks 3 Detroit Shock 3 Seattle Storm 3 Wins Phoenix Mercury 3 Los Angeles Sparks 47 Washington Mystics 1 Minnesota Lynx 41 Indiana Fever 1 Phoenix Mercury 40 Sacramento Monarchs* 1 Indiana Fever 35 Detroit Shock 30 New York Liberty 27 Seattle Storm 26 Games Connecticut Sun 25 Los Angeles Sparks 89 Sacramento Monarchs* 24 Phoenix Mercury 73 Houston Comets 20 Indiana Fever 68 Washington Mystics 18 New York Liberty 63 Atlanta Dream 17 Minnesota Lynx 62 San Antonio Silver Stars 8 Seattle Storm 51 Chicago Sky 8 Detroit Shock 49 Cleveland Rockers 6 Connecticut Sun 48 Charlotte Sting* 6 Washington Mystics 47 Sacramento Monarchs* 43 Atlanta Dream 38 Houston Comets 34 Losses San Antonio Silver Stars 24 Los Angeles Sparks