Sparks-Lynx postgame quotes

Los Angeles 76
MINNESOTA 87

Minnesota Coach Jennifer Gillom:

"What a game. I told the girls that although we played a horrible first half, I don't care. This win was important for us -- I'll take this win any day. I thought that we shot poorly from the free throw line tonight, and I knew it was going to come but I did not want it to come tonight. We were on a roll with our shooting percentage after averaging about 90 percent from the free throw line. It was not great tonight, but I though our three-point shooting at 60 percent kind of balanced it out."

"I thought we did a great job in the second half defensively. We got some key stops by Nicky Anosike, some key blocks. I thought Seimone made some key three-pointers to help keep that lead in the second half. Great game. I mean, wasn't one of our best, but it was a great win."

"Definitely satisfying. I thought even against Indiana, who's one of the top defensive teams in the league, was a good job by us. But to beat L.A., with that team that they have, was a great sign for us. We can beat any given team on any night, and that was a huge stepping stone because I think that this team is really starting to believe in themselves. And we beat a team like L.A. It can't do anything but boost your confidence level."

"We've got to stay humble. I know it's real early, teams are still finding themselves, but I still think there are improvements for us as well. I'm glad that we are off to this great start, but that doesn't mean that we stop working. We just continue to work hard and still have some things to work on. Like I said, in the first half defensively we didn't do a great job, but we turned it up in the second half."

"That was the difference in the game. I thought that getting (Leslie) on the bench early was huge. She was definitely giving us trouble. Not necessarily the one-on-one moves or anything like that, it was just her offensive rebounds and we were just so worried about Lennox and the other people and she was picking up those little garbage rebounds and putbacks. I mean, she's long. It was hard to box her out. So yeah, having her on the bench was crucial for us."

"Nicky Anosike is playing like a beast right now. Besides Seimone's 30 points -- I mean, that was great for us -- this kid had five assists, four steals, five blocked shots. That is just all an all-around game. That's what type of play we are going to need out of her every night to win, essentially in the post. We don't have a lot of great post players right now that are stepping up, but she is doing a great job."

"We just told (Wiggins), let the game come to you. She was just trying to do too much. Candice is that type of player. She wants to do a lot of things on her own. I just told her to let the game come to her, and it will. It starts on the defensive end. When she picked up on Betty Lennox defensively, then her offensive game came because she wasn't so focused on her offense. I think just her mentality changed just a little bit."

"I thought Kelly did a great job of pressuring the point guards and really giving them a lot of trouble, not letting them look where they want to look a lot of times, pressuring them in the backcourt and wearing them down. I thought that she wore their guards down a little bit towards the end. That girl is just so full of energy. I'm glad she's on our team."

"(Lennox) is a streaky player. You never know what you're going to get. There are some nights when she's unstoppable, she makes shots and she's falling on the floor. That's Betty Lennox. She can come out tomorrow and play somebody else and get two. We knew we would get the tough end of the deal because she didn't have a great game against Detroit the other night."

"Charde is really the type of player that you have to look at face to face and tell her to focus. She has the tendency to just go off and do her thing. When she's focused, the kid is awesome. You've just got to keep her focused, and that's the key to her playing well."

Minnesota Center Nicky Anosike:

"Any time you are playing against an Olympian, someone with those kind of accolades, you want to measure yourself up against them. I just wanted to see where I was at. I took it to (Leslie) and I challenged her. I'm not going to back down."

"I don't think we're thrilled at all. I think that we know that last year had a great start. We started 5-0 and we didn't make the playoffs. Every game, we go into it thinking this could have been the two games we missed it by (last year). That really helps us get through the tough points in the game... It's a stepping stone, definitely, but we need to go ahead and keep looking forward to getting another one on Friday."

Minnesota Guard Seimone Augustus:

"I'm kind of hard on myself. I have to take care of the ball. I just try to be aggressive when I can, and try to get my teammates involved. I know once Lisa went out we wanted to try and attack Lindsay Hylton in the post. We just wanted to put them on their heels and make them play our game instead of us playing theirs."

"Sloppy play on our part -- we didn't have the best practice yesterday. It was kind of a rollover of how practice went yesterday. They are also an excellent defensive team with DeLisha Milton's long arms and long body. We just have to make better passes and try to put ourselves in positions where we don't make those turnovers. I think a lot of them were in transition, just silly turnovers that we can definitely clean up."

Minnesota Guard Candice Wiggins:

"I'm really a second half kind of girl in the history of my life. A lot of times the first quarter is still warm-up, getting used to the pace of the game. I just knew that our team needed me to come out and attack. Really, defense is what I came out of the locker room thinking about. Betty Lennox was going off on us. She still kind of did go off but I wanted to make her have as tough of a shot as possible. Getting that defensive confidence back helped me offensively."

"I always try to attack the basket first. At first I did but I didn't really get any calls. They are kind of big. They have Vanessa, Lisa, and all of them are really good shot-blockers. I think there was a lot of contact on some of those plays. Getting to the basket and hitting my three-point shot is really what my game is based off of."

Actually, I have to credit that. My free throw percentage and my confidence is getting better. Coach Zierden helped me in the offseason with that. He had me pause for a second and it changed my shot completely. I don't think I have missed many free throws since then. Hopefully I won't miss a free throw all season."

"The reason I love this team so much is we have the experience from last year. We know what it's like. Coach Jen at halftime was like, 'We were 2-0 last year, we were 5-0, we have nothing to cheer about.' I think that's what we have in the back of our minds. This is just the beginning of the season. There is a whole long season with different parts of it. You have to improve and you have to be consistent. I think that this team is learning that consistency now."

"Even when (Lennox) played in Atlanta last year, she is a tough person to guard because she is so offensive minded and she can score a numerous amount of ways. Very quick first step, and she shoots the ball. You have to be aggressive with her on defense. She is tough. She is a great, great player."

"I think everyone did (breathe a sigh of relief). I think the crowd did. I think the team did. Just because of the presence (Leslie) has on the court and the confidence that she exudes to her teammates. But we know that they are never going to give up. When Lisa goes out Vanessa is coming in, and they are going to move DeLisha to forward and they are going to still be ready. It wasn't that the game was over after that."

Los Angeles Coach Michael Cooper:

"We held their big three, if you want to call them that -- Anosike, Charde Houston and Candice Wiggins -- in check the first half. We got into the third and we kind of got away from our game. We took some quick shots and turned the ball over. That's not going to help at all, and we had 20 turnovers. That gave them a little bit of fresh air and they were able to take advantage of it."

"(Leslie fouling out) was a big moment, but it wasn't. We've got people who are capable, like Vanessa Hayden, we went and got her for a reason. This was the reason, in case this would happen. I thought we just started loosening up on our defense a little bit and let some people get some shots they weren't getting in the first half. That was the difference in the game."

"Well, we played harder (than Monday at Detroit). It's never a step any way if you lose, but our effort was better. For us it's panic mode right now simply because it's early in the season and we're supposed to be doing better than this. We just have to rectify it."

Los Angeles Guard Betty Lennox:

"This hurt because we are not nearly fulfilling our full potential on the floor. I know it's going to take time and patience because we're still learning each other. But there's no doubt in my mind we definitely need to pick it up. It's difficult to start out great and then not play to our potential."

"With this team I really don't talk about my individual stats. It's a team effort. We're all trying to do what we need to do to win basketball games. It just so happens again I show up on the stat sheet. But again, it's not about my individual play, it's about team play."

"No matter where I'm from or if I've been here before, I do feel home here. But as a team we didn't play well. It doesn't really matter how well I play individually because it's not just one player's success. We've got to do it as a team."

Los Angeles Forward Tina Thompson:

"(Leslie) didn't play the last 12-14 minutes, so that's tough. We're used to having her out there. She has a presence. It definitely deters our offense a little bit because a lot of our plays go to her. Even still, we could have played better. We turned the ball over way too much. "

"We weren't ourselves at all (in Detroit), so I don't know if we can use that as a learning tool. We tried to wipe that one off and move on. But for me, today was definitely a step back."