Shock Lead Wire-To-Wire In Win Over Los Angeles

Friday night's game against Los Angeles looked completely different from Tulsa's July 11 game against the Sparks. Instead of a blowout loss, the Shock led from start to finish, knocking off Los Angeles, 96-89.

With Los Angeles star Candace Parker sidelined with a wrist injury, Tulsa center Liz Cambage scored a career high 28 points while Glory Johnson added 17 points, including 10 in an important, pace-setting first quarter.

Tulsa led from start to finish, but had some difficulty putting the Sparks away, thanks to Kristi Toliver, who scored 23 points to lead LA. Nneka Ogwumike had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

With 3:30 left, Marissa Coleman nailed a 3-pointer to bring the Sparks within 80-77. Tulsa's Candace Wiggins responded with five straight points of her own to put Tulsa back up by eight and the Shock would lead by no less than four the rest of the way. Wiggins finished the game with 18 points.

The Shock shot 53.2 percent from the floor and also had a big advantage at the free-throw line, hitting 23 compared to just 12 for Los Angeles.

Tulsa has now won four of its past five games and faces San Antonio on the road Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. There is still a lot of season left to be played, but Tulsa now sits just two and a half games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.