Danielle Robinson leads San Antonio in win over Los Angeles, 70-63

The San Antonio Stars (3-8) defeated the Los Angeles Sparks (2-9) Wednesday evening at Freeman Coliseum, 70-63. The Stars broke a two-game losing streak that included a loss to the Sparks last Thursday in Los Angeles.

Danielle Robinson led the Stars with a season-high 22 points in the victory. She recorded eight assists, marking the 10th time in 12 games that the Oklahoma alum has led the Stars in dimes this season. Sophia Young-Malcolm started and scored 11 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Over her last eight games, she is averaging 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 30.4 minutes.

Jantel Lavender led the Sparks and recorded a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Nneka Ogwumike also recorded a double-double, scoring 16 points and adding 13 rebounds.

San Antonio heads to Indiana to face the Fever on Friday, beginning a three-game road trip. Los Angeles heads to Tulsa to face the Shock on Saturday.

Notes

• San Antonio’s Danielle Adams made her first start of the season, scoring 11 points in 18 minutes. Adams has scored at least eight points in five of her last six games.
• Sydney Colson tied a season-high in points (9) and recorded career-highs in minutes (27), rebounds (4) and steals (3) for the Stars.
• Guard Samantha Logic made her Stars debut, coming off the bench to play 13 minutes and recording three rebounds and two assists.
• The Stars outscored the Sparks in the paint by 14 points (40-26) marking their highest point differential in the paint so far this season.
• Ana Dabovic, who was recently added to the Sparks roster, scored two points and recorded an assist and a rebound in eight minutes of game time.
• The Sparks forced 13 Stars turnovers, which resulted in 13 points, while also outscoring the Stars 14 to six in second chance points.

Quotes

Stars head coach Dan Hughes

(Opening statement…)

“Under the circumstances I think our team really bought into what we were trying to do. All nine players did kind of what we need to do to be successful. I feel good for what they collectively could do, the nine of them. We actually didn’t start out real well with our starters. Our bench gave us a lift and then kind of carried over in the second half.”

(On gaining momentum…)

“We honestly have. That’s 3 in a row here at home. On the road we have been close. We’ve got a lot of work to do but at least we are starting to understand who we are and how we’ve got to play to it in a lot of ways. Danielle Robinson was good. She had to step up, not only in distribution but also in scoring. I thought her play was outstanding. On top of that, our ability to have Jayne Appel back. She missed like six games. Having her back was a big help. I thought she really solidified us on the inside. Rebounded well. Gave us a chance against Nneka (Ogwumike) who’s just a heck of a player.”

Stars forward Sophia Young-Malcolm

(On what the Stars focus was in tonight’s game…)

“Obviously we lost to L.A. in that last game at L.A. because they are big and they are aggressive. We were just worried about chemistry and concentration and helping each other. If somebody helps you then you help them and trying to building a chemistry and connection with each other. I think tonight we kind of talked a lot with each other. Everybody was able to be there for each other. That’s really helpful for us.”

(On weather the six days of rest helped…)

“Yes. I think so. That’s mainly because we’ve had so many injuries with our team but practice was good. Like I said, we just tried to focus on what we have and helping each other and talking. I think that’s what we did a lot tonight. We communicated well with each other.”

Stars guard Danielle Robinson

(On her overall thoughts on the game…)

“I think with Jia (Perkins) and Kayla (McBride) being out I kind have had to step up. I knew if I started the game the way I did, with a lot of energy, that everybody was going to feed off the energy. I am happy we got the win. Everybody that came out, they played. We are just trying to take it on the road now.”

Sparks head coach Brian Agler

(On Starks breakdown …)

“I think we’ll find out after we watch the film. Obviously we got stagnate offensively, had some defensive breakdowns. A real disappointing second half. Really, it started in the last couple minutes of the second quarter with a couple turnovers and miscues and fouls. A combination of things that let them back in. We’ll watch the film and get back to work.

(On team’s loss of focus …)

“We had people let themselves get sort of stronged, plays didn’t come so easy. I’ve been in this league for a long time and teams go through these dents sometimes. Today was a dent, but I’ve also been in this league long enough to know we’re going to keep fighting. We’ll bounce back.

(On Stars performance…)

“I thought San Antonio played very good defense tonight. I thought they were well prepared and played great with people out. They put a very good defensive team on the floor and Jayne’s influence at the rim.

Sparks forward Jantel Lavender

(On overall performance…)

“I definitely think that we had opportunities to score the basketball. We rushed a little under the basket, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t have opportunities to win the game. We needed to get stops. We let Danielle Robinson get too much in the paint. It just didn’t go our way on the defensive end.

(On the Sparks’ mentality on playing from behind…)

“It’s kind of deflating, but at the same time I think all teams go on runs. All of us have played basketball long enough to know that there are going to be runs and sometimes you just have to get consecutive stops in a row and we didn’t do that. We have to play more as a team to stick with it. Not mentally, but on the defensive end. The key was too open for them and they were doing whatever they wanted to do in the second half. We just can’t have that. We need to stick to our defensive principles and that’s the factor tonight.

 (On the challenges to win on the road…)

“It’s challenging, but at the same time you just have to do the little things. You have to box out, you have to get those loose balls, you have to do the smalls things that may never have to do at home with the crowd behind you. We haven’t been able to get over that hump.  Doing the little things, getting those loose balls, getting those rebounds that are clutch in a game, and getting stops. I think it’s about defense on the road and our defense just wasn’t there tonight.

By the Numbers

Points in the Paint: Sparks 26, Stars 40
Second Chance Points: Sparks 14, Stars 6
Fastbreak Points: Sparks 2, Stars 10
Biggest Lead: Sparks 9, Stars 11
Lead Changes: 3
Times Tied: 5