{"id":1255,"date":"2010-05-09T05:54:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-09T05:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/sports\/wnba-stars-outshine-sparks-figueroa-in-pyramid\/"},"modified":"2010-05-09T05:54:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-09T05:54:00","slug":"wnba-stars-outshine-sparks-figueroa-in-pyramid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wnba-stars-outshine-sparks-figueroa-in-pyramid","title":{"rendered":"WNBA: Stars Outshine Sparks, Figueroa In Pyramid"},"content":{"rendered":"


<\/em>Photo by John Fajardo<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If the floor seemed crowded at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday, it’s probably because there were two games going on at once.  <\/span>First, former 49er Karina Figueroa was playing in the final game of her training camp contract, and hoping to make the cut for the Sparks’ regular season roster; and of course, there was an actual game going on as well, as the Sparks tried to best the San Antonio Silver Stars in their final tuneup before the start of their regular season schedule, May 15th at Phoenix.  <\/span>Neither game ended as well as most fans in attendance hoped (the Sparks fell 86-77 to the San Antonio Stars and Figueroa was scoreless in 11 minutes of play), but there was plenty to be optimistic about.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It was an even first half, with the score tied at 25 after the first period, and at 43 at intermission.  <\/span>An 8\/17 shooting performance by the Spurs in the third helped them begin to pull away, as Belinda Snell hit some timely jumpers (she finished with a game-leading 17 points).  <\/span>Heading into the fourth quarter trailing, the Sparks made a charge to tie it at 70, but turnovers and fatigue took their toll down the stretch.  <\/span>The Stars finished with 18 points off turnovers, to go along with 29 points off foul shots.  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Figueroa didn’t have a successful game in terms of offensive production, going 0-3 including two good looks she’s used to knocking down in the Pyramid.  <\/span>She did put in great work defensively, though, flustering Roneeka Hodges of the Stars, fighting through screens to disrupt her shots and providing intense on-ball pressure that forced one double dribble.  <\/span>She also drew a hard foul while pulling down her lone defensive rebound.  <\/span>So it wasn’t a home run\u2014but it wasn’t a disaster either.  <\/span>That kind of grab bag, according to Sparks coach Jennifer Gillom, is what she’s come to expect from her rookie class.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

“That’s probably the toughest part right now,” she said.  <\/span>“The players who do really well in practice seem nervous in the games, and don’t have a great performance.  <\/span>The players who aren’t practicing as well are having good games, so it’s hard.”  <\/span>Gillom said she wants to make the cuts sooner than later, probably next week.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Asked about her desires in the locker room after the game, Figueroa said, “Well I want to make the team; I’m trying to do the little things, to do whatever it takes.  <\/span>I could have done better today, but every day is game day\u2014whether we’re playing, or practicing, it doesn’t matter.  <\/span>This isn’t the only test.”<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Gillom praised Figueroa’s effort, not just on the defensive floor, but every day.  <\/span>“She’s a great practice player\u2014I love her attitude.  <\/span>Her passion for the game, her basketball IQ, you can’t coach that.”  <\/span>Regardless of what happens with the Sparks, said Gillom, “she can definitely stay in this league.”<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a tough game for former 49er Karina Figueroa and her Sparks teammates, as the “home” team fell 86-77 in the Pyramid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1255"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1255"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}