LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks dropped their third straight game, this time an 85-80 loss to the Phoenix Mercury, a game in which the Sparks squandered an 18-point first half lead. Third quarter woes have been a thorn in the Sparks’ side this season, and sure enough they were outscored 24-9 as the Mercury got back into the game. After their loss, Sparks veteran guard Odyssey Sims spoke about the team’s inconsistency early in the regular season.

“Every day we’re trying to get better. Every day we’re trying to figure out how she [Lynne Roberts] wants her style of play to be, us to understand her style of play and execute while we’re on the floor,” Sims said. “We’re not hanging our heads down. Of course we lost, of course this one stings, of course because we’re right there.”

“We know, the third quarter, we keep saying the same things over and over, kind of beating a dead horse at this point,” Sims continued. “But it’s got to be less talking about it and more doing, applying it, and it starts in practice and transitioning on the court. At some point we got to see some improvement. And we’ve just got to be better all around.”

With the Sparks hoping to get back in the win column and shed some of that inconsistency, Odyssey Sims did her best to help the team get over the hump. She finished with a season-high 32 points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal. She shot 10-of-14 from the field, 3-of-5 from the three-point line and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.

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When the Sparks’ offense stalled at times in the second half with shots not dropping, Sims remained aggressive and helped get the Mercury in foul trouble with her drives to the basket. Following the game, Kelsey Plum admitted she didn’t quite have her legs under her in the second half, and she praised Sims for continuing to put pressure on the defense.

“I thought O was just phenomenal in the way that she just answered their runs individually,” Plum said.

From Sims’ perspective, while she acknowledged her strong game, she made sure to point out that there’s still plenty of work to be done for the Sparks.

“I just played basketball, I was a little bit more aggressive, I think the rim was kind of big for me today. . .but it’s not my individual performance,” Sims said. “As a team we still got to be better. So we’ll got back, we’ll watch film all tomorrow. We still got work to do. Good thing is it’s early, but there’s still work to be done and we’re just gonna try to be better.”