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The Los Angeles Sparks may be without two of their starters when they continue their season-high, eight-game road trip against the Western Conference-leading Sacramento Monarchs.
Los Angeles has played the first two games of the trip without starting point guard Nikki Teasley, and on Tuesday, center Lisa Leslie went down with a knee injury in the Sparks' 77-60 loss to the Phoenix Mercury.
Leslie, among the WNBA's top 10 in scoring (14.7), rebounding (6.8) and blocks (2.5) per game, left with 9:41 remaining after injuring her left knee on an errant pass.
``I think she's gonna be OK,'' Sparks coach Henry Bibby said. ``She hurt her knee a little, but she'll be back.''
Teasley, who has an injured foot, and Leslie are both listed as day-to-day.
Tuesday's loss was the Sparks' third in four games, and they've posted back-to-back victories once since a season-high three-game winning streak from June 11-18.
``We have to play one game at a time, stay healthy and play defense,'' Bibby said.
Sacramento has won two straight, including a 64-54 victory over the Charlotte Sting on Tuesday.
Yolanda Griffith had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Monarchs, who used a 21-0 run to improve to 9-2 at home this season.
Sacramento trailed for much of the first half before taking the lead for good, scoring the final 14 points of the half and the first seven after the break to give it a 36-24 advantage.
``Tonight we made some mistakes, but against L.A., we can't make mistakes,'' Griffith said. ``They have a great starting five and great players coming off the bench. Against L.A., we have to play perfect basketball. We have to take it one possession at a time and limit them to one shot and want the game more than them.'' Sacramento has injury problems of its own as it continues to play without leading scorer DeMya Walker. The 6-foot-4 forward, averaging 14.5 points per game, sprained her right knee in practice last Thursday and is expected to be out two to three weeks.
The Los Angeles Sparks may be without two of their starters when they continue their season-high, eight-game road trip against the Western Conference-leading Sacramento Monarchs.
Los Angeles has played the first two games of the trip without starting point guard Nikki Teasley, and on Tuesday, center Lisa Leslie went down with a knee injury in the Sparks' 77-60 loss to the Phoenix Mercury.
Leslie, among the WNBA's top 10 in scoring (14.7), rebounding (6.8) and blocks (2.5) per game, left with 9:41 remaining after injuring her left knee on an errant pass.
``I think she's gonna be OK,'' Sparks coach Henry Bibby said. ``She hurt her knee a little, but she'll be back.''
Teasley, who has an injured foot, and Leslie are both listed as day-to-day.
Tuesday's loss was the Sparks' third in four games, and they've posted back-to-back victories once since a season-high three-game winning streak from June 11-18.
``We have to play one game at a time, stay healthy and play defense,'' Bibby said.
Sacramento has won two straight, including a 64-54 victory over the Charlotte Sting on Tuesday.
Yolanda Griffith had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Monarchs, who used a 21-0 run to improve to 9-2 at home this season.
Sacramento trailed for much of the first half before taking the lead for good, scoring the final 14 points of the half and the first seven after the break to give it a 36-24 advantage.
``Tonight we made some mistakes, but against L.A., we can't make mistakes,'' Griffith said. ``They have a great starting five and great players coming off the bench. Against L.A., we have to play perfect basketball. We have to take it one possession at a time and limit them to one shot and want the game more than them.'' Sacramento has injury problems of its own as it continues to play without leading scorer DeMya Walker. The 6-foot-4 forward, averaging 14.5 points per game, sprained her right knee in practice last Thursday and is expected to be out two to three weeks.
