LOS ANGELES — Challenged by coach Michael Cooper to turn in a performance worthy of her status as the WNBA's most valuable player, Lisa Leslie responded by dominating the Sacramento Monarchs.
She had a career-high and league-playoff-record 35 points, 16 rebounds and set another league playoff record with seven blocked shots as the Los Angeles Sparks won 93-62 Monday night to reach the WNBA finals for the first time in the club's five-year history.
"He's really the leader of the team. I'm the captain, but I get my intensity from him," Leslie said. "He said, 'Smooth, I need for you to show up. We need to see the MVP.'
"I tried to come out every possession and do that, be that player I'm supposed to be and not wait and let other players do it."
The Sparks clinched the Western Conference finals 2-1 and will play the Charlotte Sting in the championship series that begins Thursday in Charlotte. The Sting upset the New York Liberty 48-44 to win the Eastern Conference title earlier Monday.
"As Pat Riley used to say, 'Seize the moment,' and the moment is coming for us real soon," said Cooper, who played on five NBA title teams with the Lakers. "We're going down there to get one game and then bring it back to be the next WNBA champion."
Still smarting from Sunday's 20-point loss that allowed Sacramento to tie the series 1-1, Leslie talked individually with her teammates about what was required Monday.
"We had to decide, are you going to fight and come back and play hard and want this game, or are we going to let them come in here and take it from us," said Leslie, who sported a black eye and busted lip from Sunday's game. "Everybody on my team decided that we were going to come and take this game, and we were able to do that."
The Monarchs never led, trailing by 34 points in the second half when they got no closer than 14.
"That was a great game, a great team effort. We came out and jumped on them from the beginning," Leslie said. "It was just superb."
Leslie, selected as the WNBA's MVP on Sunday, proved it with a dominating performance from the opening tip. She had a league record for points (22) and rebounds (14) in the first half as the Sparks took a 42-27 lead.
STING 48, LIBERTY 44: Dawn Staley embraced her Temple University players on the sideline before jumping into a bear hug with teammate Summer Erb at midcourt of Madison Square Garden.
Staley had plenty to celebrate after scoring a game-high 17 points, leading the Charlotte Sting into the WNBA Finals with a win over the New York Liberty.
A first-year coach at Temple, Staley guided the Owls to a 19-11 record and their first winning season in a decade. On Monday night, she directed the Sting offense and finished 6-for-10 from the field with two 3-pointers.
Sting players gathered in a mass hug, exchanging high-fives and putting on caps and T-shirts proclaiming themselves Eastern Conference champions. After losing 10 of 11 games to start the season, they finished 17-4 — a WNBA record for the biggest turnaround in a season.
"We just exhaled," Staley said. "It was an opportunity for us to reflect on the season, how people closed the door on us. We're relieved but we're not satisfied."
The Sting will open the best-of-three finals at home Thursday night against the Los Angeles Sparks, who dominated the Sacramento Monarchs 93-62 Monday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
Allison Feaster had 14 points for the Sting, who won despite shooting 19 percent in the first half and getting just five points from Game 2 star Andrea Stinson.
Feaster made a 3-pointer with 2:54 left to give Charlotte the lead for good, then made another 49 seconds later for a 46-42 lead.