22/20, 30/14, 28, 27

Amazing game night:

Sparks rookie Nnemkadi Ogwumike exploded for 22 points and 20 rebounds and lead her team to a 77-74 win over the Fever. Ogwumike's 12 offensive boards was a WNBA record.

Tamika Catchings had 27 points for Indiana, and the Indy Star has a different take on the game.

My take: it was a helluva game.

Earlier, Maya Moore lead the Lynx to an 89-74 victory over the Shock, with 28 points. Rookie Glory Johnson had a career-high 30 points, plus 14 rebounds, for the Shock, who have a helluva lot of heart.

There are four final games tomorrow before the Olympic break:

Mystics at Liberty
Dream at Silver Stars
Sun at Sky
Storm at Mercury

The next league game is Aug. 16. *sigh*

Other league news:

Ruth Riley earned the WNBA Cares Community Assist Award for June.

Sparks at Fever post-game quotes:

Quoting Fever Head Coach Lin Dunn

(General comments)

“I’m very disappointed that we didn’t win this game. We did everything we needed to do except rebound. Their (Los Angeles’) effort to get offensive rebounds was the difference. Rebounding is attention to detail. I told our players to come back better rebounders or don’t come back.”

Quoting Sparks Head Coach Carol Ross

(General comments)

“It was a hard-fought game. We laid it all out tonight. We sneaked out of here with a win.”

(On last play for Fever)

“The Fever diagramed a very good play, had a great look and we didn’t guard it very well.”

Quoting the Fever’s Briann January

(On rebounding)

“It was definitely the difference in the game. You can’t win when you let one person get 20 rebounds. It is not on one person, it is a team effort. It is one thing we will work on and get better when we come back from the break.”

(On Los Angeles starting lineup)

“They’ve been on the road and it’s a credit to them. They brought energy. They continued to play hard for 40 minutes.”

“This is a tough one to let go, especially at home.”

Quoting the Fever’s Tamika Catchings

(On rebounding)

“I’m sure for us that everyone has already talked about it… rebounding. Nneka (Ogwumike) had 20. That’s just not acceptable. It’s just frustrating going in as it’s the same thing over and over. Again, we continue to talk about rebounding, boxing out and turning the ball over. Hopefully this break will be good and everyone will regroup and re-focus for the second half of the season.

Quoting the Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike

(General comments)

“I thought we did a good job. I’m very excited about our five wins going into the break. We fought hard.”

“After we won quarters one and three, we wanted to work hard to get (quarter) four.”

Quoting the Sparks’ Kristi Tolliver

(General comments)

“It was a hard-fought battle. I’m glad we were able to get the victory. I knew that it was going to come down to the battle of the boards. We had good all-around effort. It’s a good victory going into the break.”