Conference semifinal matchups set for WNBA Gators ? Sept. 24 Update
Monday, September 24, 2012 | Women's Basketball
With the regular season now complete, the matchups are set for former Gators as the Los Angeles Sparks and Atlanta Dream know for certain whom they will be facing off against in the first-round of the 2012 WNBA Playoffs.
The Sparks took their regular-season finale last Thursday against the Minnesota Lynx in a game that some believed to be a Western Conference Finals preview. DeLisha Milton-Jones added nine points for the Sparks who won the game 92-76 to finish the regular season 16-1 at home. With Milton-Jones having started all 34 games for L.A. this season, this marks the fourth-straight season and the eighth time in her career that Milton-Jones has started every game of the season for the Sparks.
The only blemish on the 16-1 home record for Los Angeles came back on June 24 to the very San Antonio Silver Stars team they are set to face in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Sparks have won ten straight home games since that loss to San Antonio and have won 14 of their last 17 games overall, which led them to grabbing the second seed in the west.
The third-place Silver Stars won three out of the four games they played against the Sparks during the 2012 regular season, with the Sparks one victory having been the most-recent meeting between the two teams on Aug. 23.
The Dream split a pair of road games to close out the 2012 WNBA regular-season as they defeated the Chicago Sky on Thursday night and fell yesterday afternoon to the Connecticut Sun who finished the season first in the Eastern Conference. Aneika Henry contributed offensively and on the glass in both games, with the former Gator having appeared in all 34 regular-season games for Atlanta while averaging 18 minutes per game.
Atlanta now knows for sure that they will take on the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference Semifinals with the Fever and Dream having finished second and third, respectively, in the Eastern Conference standings. Indiana won three out of their five regular-season matchups against the Dream this season.
The Los Angeles Sparks and San Antonio Silver Stars are set to begin their semifinal tilt on Thursday, Sept. 27 in Los Angeles at 10:00pm EST on ESPN2, but from USC's Galen Center as opposed to the Staples Center, which is the Sparks' normal home. The best-of-three series between the Dream and Fever will tip-off from Bankers Field House in Indianapolis on Friday, Sept. 28 at 7:00pm EST and can be seen on ESPN2.
Full schedules of both semifinals matchups can be found below.
2012 WNBA Western Conference Semifinals
Los Angeles vs. San Antonio
| Date | Matchup | EST | National Broadcast |
| Game 1 - Thu Sept. 27 | San Antonio at Los Angeles | 10:00PM | ESPN2 |
| Game 2 - Sat Sept. 29 | Los Angeles at San Antonio | 3:00PM | NBA TV |
| Game 3 * Mon October 1 | San Antonio at Los Angeles | 10:30PM | NBA TV |
2012 WNBA Eastern Conference Semifinals
Indiana vs. Atlanta
| Date | Matchup | EST | National Broadcast |
| Game 1 - Fri Sept. 28 | Atlanta at Indiana | 7:00PM | ESPN2 |
| Game 2 - Sun Sept. 30 | Indiana at Atlanta | 4:00PM | ESPN2 |
| Game 3 * Tue October 2 | Atlanta at Indiana | TBD | TBD |
* If necessary
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