On July 10, in a WNBA regular season game, the Lynx defeated the Sparks 82-67 on the road, securing another win in their winning streak.
In this match, despite playing at home against Lynx who were missing their core player Collier, the Sparks still failed to put up an impressive performance. The Lynx took control of the game from the start, while the Sparks struggled, often losing momentum, never managing to rally for a comeback. Ultimately, the Lynx cruised to an easy victory.
This game lost its suspense early on. Even so, the Sparks’ head coach did not choose to give Li Yu’er more playing time. In the previous game against the Mercury, Li Yu’er played for only 3 minutes without scoring a single point, leading to her being benched. In this game, apart from Hamby, the starting player who was in good form, the rest of the Sparks players performed rather mediocrely. Yet, the Sparks’ head coach still chose not to make changes, and Li Yu’er did not receive more playing time in the second half.
In the entire game, Li Yu’er came off the bench to play for 13 minutes and 24 seconds, going 0-for-2 from the field, but made all 4 of her free throws, finishing with 4 points and 4 rebounds, along with 2 turnovers and 4 fouls, with a +/- rating of -15. After this game, Li Yu’er will embark on her journey back to China to prepare for the Olympics. We hope that Li Yu’er can represent the Chinese women’s basketball team and put on an outstanding performance, proving the stubborn Sparks’ head coach wrong.