Sparks hand Shock 87-71 loss

A poor second half performance doomed the Tulsa Shock Tuesday night, as they dropped their twelfth-straight game 87-71 to the Los Angeles Sparks in front of the second-largest crowd of the season (7,073) at the BOK Center. Tina Thompson led all scorers with 24 points while Delisha Milton-Jones added 17 for the Sparks. Former Oklahoma State standout Andrea Riley dropped in 14 points for L.A. in her return to Oklahoma. 

Kiesha Brown paced the Shock with 14 points while Kara Braxton turned in a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Riley reeled off two-straight three-pointers in the second quarter to put the Sparks up by eight points before the Shock bombed their way back to take the lead. Newcomer Ivory Latta sank a trey of her own about a minute later, then Amber Holt’s trey at the six-minute mark tied the game at 27-27. Jennifer Lacy struck with a trey from near the top of the key just a few moments later to put the Shock on top. Tulsa held a 41-36 lead heading into the break.

From there, however, the home team went flat and the road team soared. The Sparks were an impressive 63 percent from the field in the third as they collected 10 points off of turnovers. Los Angeles outscored Tulsa 28-13 in the quarter to give them a 10-point lead heading into the final quarter. 

The Shock would not get any closer as Los Angeles pulled away to a 20-point lead at one point of the final quarter. The Sparks led the Shock in field goal, three-point field goal and free throw percentages on the night while the Shock outscored the Sparks 36-34 in the paint.

The loss leaves the Shock (3-15) just one game shy of tying the longest losing streak in franchise history. They will look to get back into the win column on Friday when they travel to San Antonio to take on the Silver Stars. They will then travel to Phoenix for a game with the Mercury on Saturday before finishing the road swing with a rematch at Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Their next home game will be a 7 p.m. tip-off with Phoenix on Thursday, July 22. Tickets for all future Shock games are available at the BOK Center box office, online, or by calling 599-WNBA.