LOS ANGELES - Candace Parker picked the perfect moment Tuesday night to hit her most fantastic basket of the 2009 WNBA season.

Sparks forward Candace Parker drives for two points against the Silver Stars' Ann Wauters. Photo by Donald Barnat.

With less than one second left on the clock in the third quarter, and after her Sparks had fought back to a 53-53 tie from an eight-point halftime deficit, Parker was falling backwards trying to rebound a Betty Lennox missed layup, but was able to stretch out her right hand and tip the ball back toward the basket, where, with 0.6 seconds left, it went through the net as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter. 

The Sparks never trailed the rest of the game, and went on to a 76-68 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars.

Tuesday’s win, before a reported 10,476 at Staples Center, brought the Sparks season record to 16-16 and secured a postseason playoff berth for LA, the tenth in team history.  Currently in third place in the Western Conference, the victors spread the gap between themselves and either the Silver Stars (14-18) or the Minnesota Lynx (13-18) for the chance to play second-place Seattle instead of conference leader Phoenix in round one of the playoffs, to begin September 16.

Head coach Michael Cooper didn’t admit to relief at qualifying for the postseason though. 

“No, our job is not done," he said. "We still have a game against Minnesota, and we want to continue this win streak and finish strong. I thought that the first half we made a lot of mistakes as far as trying to figure out what [the Silver Stars] were doing on the defensive end,” Cooper added.  “But we picked our game up.  Rebounding was the key.  We outrebounded them by 10, and when we do that we’re a pretty good team.”

Parker chalked up a league-leading 13th double-double, totaling 12 points and 13 rebounds on the night, and added four blocks for good measure.  Teammate Lisa Leslie, in her second-to-last regular-season game before retiring, led all scorers with 18 points and had six rebounds.  Noelle Quinn and Tina Thompson had 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Thompson reflected on her first playoffs with the Sparks. 

“It’s one of the moments [I came to Los Angeles for], but it’s not the moment,” she said happily, her lower legs soaking in ice packs.  “It’s definitely part of the plan for sure, making the playoffs.  It’s what’s needed to get to the ultimate goal, and that’s winning a championship.”

LA Sparks general manager Penny Toler and head coach Michael Cooper celebrate their team's playoff berth. Photo by Donald Barnat.

San Antonio was paced by Shanna Crossley off the bench with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.  Sophia Young (13), Ann Wauters (13), and Becky Hammon (12) were also in double figures, and Hammon distributed seven assists on the night, although she also had eight turnovers.

Both Los Angeles and San Antonio came out of the gate playing hard, but after a 16-16 first quarter, the Silver Stars became the shooting stars in the second period, hitting 7-of-13 field goal attempts and holding LA to only four baskets in the stanza.  San Antonio led by 10 with 1:14 left in the half before Thompson and Quinn hit buckets to cut the lead to five, but a Hammon layup and free throw edged the score at the break up to 38-30 Silver Stars.

The Sparks uncharacteristically came out after halftime on an 8-0 run before the Silver Stars could get on the board, almost three minutes into the half.  Then for the next seven minutes San Antonio pulled ahead three times, but LA came back to tie the score each time, tallying a 69.2 percent field goal efficiency for the period before Parker’s circus shot gave the Sparks the momentum going into the final quarter.

Los Angeles ruled the paint Tuesday, scoring 44 points to San Antonio’s 26 from the key, and the Sparks converted 23 points off the visitors’ 18 turnovers.

Noelle Quinn started her eighth game of the season at point guard instead of regular starter Kristi Harrower, who had missed three of the last four games to attend her grandmother’s funeral in Australia.

San Antonio will try to secure the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoffs when they visit the Sacramento Monarchs Thursday at 7pm.  The game can be viewed on WNBA.com's Live Access.

The Sparks' final regular-season home game, which will double as Lisa Leslie’s farewell tribute, will be Friday night at 7:30 pm at Staples Center against the Minnesota Lynx.  Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket will broadcast the game, which can also be seen via WNBA.com.  Fans will receive a special t-shirt courtesy of Nike and LA jersey sponsor Farmers Insurance, and before the game special video tributes will be broadcast featuring teammates and coaches, friends, family and past and present WNBA personnel.  There will be a special guest emcee, and a halftime performance by the USC marching band to honor their famous alumna.  Tickets are still available.

Sparks first-round playoff tickets are also on sale now.  The Sparks will host the first game of their playoff series on September 16 or 17.