An intense battle went down between 2 fiery competitors on Thursday night. Before hitting the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup road, Chicago and LA locked horns in front of 7,911 in attendance at the Wintrust Arena. Anyhow, this regular season fixture was a little painful for the No. 2 overall WNBA draft pick Cameron Brink. The 22-year-old faced some Chicago music late in the penultimate quarter.

With the visitors trailing by 11 points, Cameron Brink subbed in for Zia Cooke. The very next minute, she tried to bridge the gap by attempting a 2-foot layup after receiving a pass from Rickea Jackson. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Williams came in the way and through a stunning block prevented the forward from scoring. However, during all this, she smacked the rookie on her way down.

Nonetheless, Brink didn’t take much time to respond to that. In the next 10 seconds, Kia Nurse passed her the ball and she produced a driving layup. Sadly, it was all too much for the Sparks in the end. They had no answers for the offensive prowess of Marina Mabrey and Elizabeth Williams. Eventually, the 20 points courtesy of Mabrey became the deciding factor and the contest concluded in favor of the hosts by a margin of 10 points.

Still, there were some notable contributions by the Sparks. However, it also resulted in an underperforming night by Brink.

The Sparks put up a fight despite a cold night from Cameron Brink

The Sparks did not have the best start to the game. They were down by 18 points at halftime and managed to cut that deficit by the time the final buzzer sounded. A whole lot of credit for this can be directed towards the pair of Dearica Hamby and Kia Nurse. The veteran Hamby produced a sensational double-double (24 points and 13 rebounds) in which she was 9 of 19 shooting.

Similarly, 28-year-old Nurse garnered 17 points, made 5 of 12 from the field, and converted 2 out of her 7 three-pointers. Meanwhile, both these prolific shooters had an 83.33% success rate from the free throw line.

The No.4 overall Draft pick, Rickea Jackson, was the third team member to grab a double-digit score. She managed to get 10 points next to her name on a 4 of 5 shooting night. As for the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award winner, Brink, the fixture brought a single-digit figure of 7 points in her 23 minutes on the hardwood.

A rollercoaster ride this time around for the 3xWNBA champs. The defeat had resulted in them slipping down to the bottom of the Western Conference Standings. With the Commissioner’s Cup just around the corner, the need for a shift in momentum becomes extremely vital for them.

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