Los Angeles Sparks Women — Portland Women: 105:84, NBA Women

The Los Angeles Sparks women beat the Portland Women 60:41 in the Women's NBA on Saturday evening in a match that told its story early. By then it was clear the hosts meant business, and the scoreline reflected that from the first quarter onwards.

And here's the thing — the biggest lead reached 24 points, which meant Portland were chasing shadows for large stretches. The visitors managed a 2-point lead of their own at one stage, but that was the extent of their control before the Sparks pulled away decisively.

Shooting from distance decided matters. The hosts made 14 three-pointers from 29 attempts compared to 6 from 27 for the away side. Portland's strength lay inside, where they scored 42 points in the paint against 28 for Los Angeles, but it wasn't enough to offset the outside shooting deficit.

To be fair, the prediction we gave beforehand — home win with 76 per cent confidence — came true. The three-point shooting gap was the difference, and Portland's inability to contain that aspect of the game sealed the outcome.

Los Angeles sit fifth in the table after 42 games with 16 wins and 26 defeats. Portland are one place below after 43 games, also with 16 victories but 27 losses. The gap between them remains unchanged for now.

The hosts had lost their last outing against Dallas, 77:97, before winning three of their four previous games. Portland carried a heavier burden of defeats and came into this fixture looking for momentum they couldn't find.