WNBA Lisa Leslie leads Sparks win over the Monarchs

Los Angeles won the Western finals, 66-63 over Sacramento.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Lisa Leslie's performance reminded Sacramento Monarchs coach John Whisenant of another Los Angeles basketball icon.
"Lisa Leslie is the Shaquille O'Neal of the WNBA," Whisenant said. "She is a handful. She is both an offensive and defensive threat."
Leslie hit a short baseline jump shot with 9.8 seconds to go, then sank a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining, as the Sparks beat the Sacramento Monarchs 66-63 Monday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
"Those free throws were huge," she said. "I feel lucky to have made them considering how poorly we shot from the line [6-for-12] all night."
Face Detroit in finals
Leslie finished with 26 points for the two-time defending champion Sparks, who will play host to the Detroit Shock starting Friday night in a best-of-3 series for the title. The coaches are former NBA opponents Bill Laimbeer of Detroit and Michael Cooper of Los Angeles.
"The Sparks are here and we are the legitimate champions," Cooper said. "I feel very comfortable and confident and in a sense cocky that we will be the last team standing."
After Leslie's short jumper from the baseline made it 64-62, DeMya Walker pulled the Monarchs within a point by making the first of two free throws. But her miss of the second was rebounded by Leslie, who was fouled.
After Leslie made both foul shots, Sacramento's Kara Lawson missed on 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Mwadi Mabika added 16 points for the Sparks. Nikki Teasley had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Walker leads Monarchs
Walker scored 16 points to lead the Monarchs, who got 15 from Tangela Smith. Yolanda Griffith had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"It hurts, but we played Sacramento Monarchs basketball tonight," Griffith said of her team's second-half recovery from a 14-point deficit. "We'll learn from this. We know we're a great team, and we'll start off next season the way we ended this season."
Lawson tied the game at 62 on a 17-foot jumper from the right wing with 32.5 seconds remaining.
The Sparks called timeout, then set up Leslie on the right baseline, coming off a screen by Mabika. Leslie took a pass from Teasley on the right wing and made a 4-footer.
"She got me the ball and I didn't have much room to make that shot," Leslie said. "I was actually behind the backboard when I got the ball."
The second game of the WNBA Finals will be in Detroit on Sunday. If a third game is necessary, it will be in Detroit on Tuesday, Sept. 16.