Kelsey Plum dominates in debut as Sparks knock off Valkyries

The Sparks opened the season with a win over the Golden State Valkyries behind a dominant performance from Kelsey Plum.

In her Sparks debut, Kelsey Plum was dominant, pouring in 37 points to lead the way in an 84-67 win over the Valkyries. Golden State was playing their first game in franchise history, but Plum served the spoiler of the party.

She ended the game with 37 points, six assists and five steals, becoming the first to put up that stat line in league history.

Azurá Stevens scored 11 points to go with her five rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Dearica Hamby had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Rickea Jackson pitched in 13 points with three 3-pointers. Odyssey Sims had seven points and six assists.

The Sparks started the game slowly, missing their first few shots. The Valkyries, with plenty of energy in their first game, scored four straight points to jump ahead early.

Azurá started cooking for Los Angeles, scoring eight of their first 13 points. Temi Fágbénlé had seven points for Golden State. Kelsey scored her first bucket as a Spark at the 5:30 mark.

The big news of the quarter for the Sparks, though, was that Rae Burrell left the game with a knee injury.

Los Angeles was up to 52% from the field while Golden State was at 47%. At the end of the first, the Valkyries were up by one.

Both teams were cold to start the second quarter. Tiffany Hayes got things going with a layup for the Valkyries. Kelsey was the first Spark to reach double figures with 11 points, making five of her first seven shot attempts. Rickea was a perfect 2-2 from behind the arc.

Rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker scored the first points of her young career with a layup. Four of LA’s five starters were in double figures with their balanced offensive approach. After the Sparks jumped to an eight-point lead, the Valkyries struck back to make LA’s lead only three at halftime.

Los Angeles put their stamp all over the start of the second half, extending their lead to nine. Plum was cooking with eight points early in the quarter. Rickea knocked down her third 3-pointer of the night.

The quarter, though, completely belonged to Kelsey, who continued to shoulder the offensive load, scoring seven more points.

Golden State’s Julie Vanloo caught fire with three 3-pointers. She made it a six-point deficit after the Sparks had gone ahead by 15. Vanloo’s scoring barrage gave the team and crowd an injection of energy.

The Sparks had four of their five starters in double figures. LA’s dominance was mostly in the paint, with 32 points to Golden State’s 18. At the end of the third, the purple and gold were nursing a six-point lead.

It took a while for the Sparks to score in the final frame. Odyssey converted a layup after the Valkyries had a few chances to convert on a shot but came up short. No other Spark could get some offense going as Golden State picked up its defense.

Luckily for Los Angeles, they made their free throws because nobody could find their stroke. Monique Billings drained a 3-pointer to give the Valkyries some points.

LA finally started scoring points other than free throws, putting a bigger cushion on their lead. The momentum the Valkyries had in the third quickly faded and the Sparks won going away.

Key Takeaways:

Ladies and gentlemen, the Kelsey era is here!

As a team, the Sparks played excellent defense, ending the game with 16 steals and four blocks.

The Sparks’ next game will be Sunday against the Minnesota Lynx at 3:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.