LOS ANGELES — The emergence of 6-foot-6 veteran center Azurá Stevens has begun to unlock possibilities for a short-handed Sparks squad.
Stevens stood out with a season-high 23 points and 17 rebounds in her team’s 89-86 road loss against the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday.
“I thought Azurá was unbelievable (Wednesday night),” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “Twenty-three points and 17 rebounds, just unbelievable. And she’s been so consistent and steady for us and I’m really proud of her. She’s figuring it out. I wanted to make sure I highlight her even though we didn’t get the win. Just a tremendous performance by her.”
The seventh-year big, who is averaging 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 58.1%, will get a chance to improve on her opening-game line of 11 points and five rebounds when the Sparks Golden State on Friday night.
The contest will be a rematch of the Sparks’ 84-67 victory at Golden State in their season opener last Saturday. Guard Kelsey Plum had 37 points in her Sparks debut.
Meanwhile, the Sparks played 10 active players for the first time this season against Phoenix.
Forward Rickea Jackson missed Wednesday’s game because of a concussion and forwards Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell will continue to be sidelined with knee injuries for the next several weeks.
The Sparks, who led the Mercury 46-42 at halftime, began to struggle and scored only seven points in the third quarter. They trailed 66-53 before battling back and making it a game again in the fourth.
“I’m proud of our team for fighting back twice, getting in some double-digit holes there and fought back,” Roberts continued.
Plum, who was acquired in a trade from the Las Vegas Aces, is averaging 26.7 points and 5.7 assists per game.
She had a team-high 25 points and eight turnovers against Phoenix and took the blame for the team’s second-half struggles.
“I have to figure out when teams load up how to make them pay,” Plum said. “It is a new system and so a lot of times in this league it’s a fine line between the most aggressive player wins but also trying to be, like Coach said, not trying to do it yourself, so it’s definitely a learning experience.
With Jackson sidelined, rookie guard Sarah Ashlee Barker earned her first career start. The No. 9 pick in the draft finished with two points on 1-of-7 shooting and added four assists.
Meanwhile, rookie forward Liatu King, the Sparks’ third-round selection out of Notre Dame, made her WNBA debut against Phoenix after being signed to a hardship contract Tuesday. King, who was waived by the Sparks during training camp, scored four points and grabbed three rebounds in 13 minutes.
“I’m impressed with (King),” Roberts said. “She’s just a competitor and what I said before the game kind of rang true in her minutes. She has the ability to create extra possessions for us.”
Julie Allemand, Emma Cannon and Sania Feagin made their season debuts. Allemand, recovering from a knee injury, scored three points in nine minutes off the bench.
GOLDEN STATE (1-1) AT SPARKS (1-2)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: ION
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