When the final buzzer sounded in Thursday's 77-74 Indiana Fever loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, every Fever player and coach knew why they lost.
Sometimes one statistic makes all the difference. Tamika Catchings missed a shot at the buzzer, but 23 Sparks offensive rebounds told the story.
Those rebounds allowed Los Angeles 33 second-chance points. Indiana had 17.
''No wonder by the end of the game they found a way to win, because they're getting so many second-chance points,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said. ''I don't know what the players will see, but you can't help the other team by not finishing your business. To me, rebounding is attention to detail and it is effort.''
Catchings had 27 points and six rebounds. Briann January had 11 points and four assists, Katie Douglas finished with nine points and Erlana Larkins had eight points and six rebounds.
January hit a big 3-pointer to get the Fever within 73-72 at the 2:07 mark. Larkins' slashing layup gave Indiana a one-point lead.
Catchings fouled Candace Parker on the next play, and Parker sank two free throws. Larkins was fouled on the other end, but she missed two free throws that could have given Indiana the lead.
She fought back tears in the locker room as she talked about the misses.
''That stung. That hurt,'' Larkins said. ''(I'll) work on that (over the Olympic break), just go to the line with confidence, knowing that it's going to go in. That was real tough. That's something I'm going to be thinking about for a little bit.''
The Sparks' Kristi Toliver missed a shot on the other end, but DeLisha Milton-Jones got the offensive rebound for Los Angeles and Toliver was fouled, connecting on both free throws and giving the Sparks a 77-74 lead.
Catchings missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.
Nneka Ogwumike finished with 22 points and 20 rebounds for the Sparks, including 12 offensive boards, which tied a WNBA record set by Cheryl Ford in 2006.
''Nneka had 20 rebounds, and that's just not acceptable for any opponent of ours,'' Catchings said. ''Maybe 20 as a team would be good, but not for one player.''
Parker added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Toliver had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Fever won't play for more than a month, but Dunn had a strict warning for her players when they return for practice a week from Monday.
''I told this team in the locker room, 'Either come back ready to be a better rebounder or don't come back,' '' Dunn said.
Contact Star reporter James Oldham on Twitter at @BuckeyeWriter23 or call him at (317) 444-6644.
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