John Wareham: September 2009 Archives

Needing only one win to keep Lisa Leslie's WNBA career going, the Sparks fell to the Phoenix Mercury 85-74 in the Western Conference semi-finals - ending LA's season and Leslie's career. With the win, the Mercury advance to the WNBA Finals against Indiana, who defeated Detroit to advance in the East.

Leslie, who announced her retirement before the start of the season and reiterated it several times during the year - including on Friday - finished with 22 points and had nine rebounds before fouling out of the game at the 1:39 mark in the fourth. Betty Lennox added 19 points, while Leslie's former USC teammate Tina Thompson had 13 for the Sparks and Delisha Milton-Jones seven. Candace Parker only scored six points but had nine rebounds in the loss.

Diana Taurasi led the Mercury with 21 points while Le'Coe Willingham had 17 and Cappie Poindexter scored 12.

Lisa Leslie scored 19 points in her final home regular season game for the Sparks and lead the charge in a 90-61 blowout win over the Minnesota Lynx.
Leslie and former college Tina Thompson - who also had 19 - led the team in scoring while Delisha Milton-Jones had 16 and Candace Parker scored 13 points and had 14 rebounds and five assists.

Leslie was honored before Friday's game by the Sparks and by Laker legend Magic Johnson, who called Leslie "a legend that was born right in front of our eyes." President Donna Orender added about Leslie, ""Her leadership and her passion have made her the leading icon in women's basketball today."

The Sparks are now a firm third seed in the playoffs with a record of 17-16 and finish the season in Phoenix on Sunday - with a 3 pm tipoff.