San Antonio Stars guard Danielle Robinson says her team plays better when she is aggressive. She proved that once again on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Robinson scored on a driving layup with 8.4 seconds remaining to give the Stars the 72-69 victory over the Sparks in front of 7,751 fans inside Staples Center.
The former Oklahoma Sooner got the ball at the top of the key and scored from the left side to put San Antonio up for good. Before that, she tied the game at 69 40 seconds left in regulation.
”Just being confident,” Robinson said. ”We had a bunch of shooters on the floor, so the floor was spread. If it’s Jayne (Appel) screening for me or (Danielle Adams) screening for me, I know that they’re going to get a piece of my defense and then it’s just me. I’m trying to find an angle to get to the basket.”
Both Robinson and Adams finished with 13 points and Becky Hammon added 11, including three consecutive 3-pointers. San Antonio head coach Dan Hughes says he sees his point guard becoming more mature at both ends of the floor.
”She’s always had great quickness, and she’s was very well-coached in college,” Hughes said. ”But now she’s learning to make the right basketball play, and she’s increased her ability to shoot the basketball. So this is just not a quick player that penetrates and dishes and dumps.”
Nneka Ogwumike led Los Angeles (4-8) with a season-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. Candace Parker added 17 and Jantel Lavender chipped in with 14.
Ogwumike scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and gave the Sparks a late 69-67 lead as San Antonio missed their next six shots.
Los Angeles committed a season-high 23 turnovers, which turned into 20 Stars points.
”Way too many turnovers,” Sparks head coach Carol Ross said. ”I thought when San Antonio went in their zone, it’s that old basic fake-a-pass to make-a-pass. We were staring our targets down. We weren’t getting hands on balls, and then we were trying to jam it in when people weren’t open. We were just forcing. If it don’t fit, don’t force it. It’s just basic basketball. I don’t care what level it is. We just weren’t very good with decision making in those instances.”
The victory moved San Antonio aboved .500 for the second time this season and gave them their third straight win.
The Stars are now 7-6 on the season and will return home to welcome Kara Lawson and the Washington Mystics to the AT&T Center on Tuesday afternoon at 11:30 a.m.
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