Sacramento 75, Los Angeles 72

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LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Despite a furious rally, the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Sparks have a lot of work ahead to turn the tables on the top-seed Sacramento Monarchs.

The Monarchs used two early runs to open a 16-point lead, got 18 points apiece from Nicole Powell and Yolando Griffith and overcame a late scare for a 75-72 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks in the first game of their best-of-three Western Conference semifinal.

Last season, the top-seeded Sparks dropped the conference semifinals to the fourth seed Monarchs, but Los Angeles built itself too big a hole Wednesday and now must go to Sacramento for game two of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday. Game three, if necessary, will be played Sunday in Sacramento as well.