SPARKS SHOW NO SPARK IN LOSS MINNESOTA 78, SPARKS 66.

Byline: Ben Villa Staff Writer

On a night when they honored Olympic champions past and present, the Sparks sure didn't play like champs.

Lisa Leslie fouled out early in the second half, and Nicole Ohlde scored 19 points and Vanessa Hayden 16 as the Minnesota Lynx clinched third place in the Western Conference on Friday night with a 78-66 win over the Sparks before a crowd of 9,642 at Staples Center.

``I'm disappointed in the way we played tonight. We have to realize we can't afford to take a night off,'' Sparks coach Karleen Thompson said. ``The first 30 seconds of this game set the tempo for us the rest of the night. They got up on us 5-0 and we were playing catch up the rest of the way.''

From the beginning, it was clear that the Lynx needed this game more than the Sparks. The Sparks had already wrapped up home-court advantage throughout the playoffs while the Lynx entered Friday's contest still needing a win to clinch a playoff spot.

After taking a 37-32 at halftime, the Lynx used their size to take a double-digit lead in the second half. Hayden scored 14 of her points after the intermission as the Lynx went on a 16-5 run to take a 64-53 lead with 9:27 remaining.

Moments later, Leslie, who struggled all night against the much bigger Lynx, even getting a technical foul for throwing her elbows, fouled out with 8:26 left after scoring only nine points.

The win by the Lynx also marks the first time in their history that they've won at the Staples Center. Mwadi Mabika scored 15 points to lead the Sparks, who committed 12 turnovers, shot just 37.7 percent from the field and will conclude their regular season tonight at Seattle.

At halftime, the Sparks honored female Olympians from the Athens Games like Leslie as well as former Olympic stars dating back to 1972.