Crystal Bradford update
Former Central Michigan University women’s basketball star Crystal Bradford and the Los Angeles Sparks are locked in a WNBA playoff battle.
The fourth-seeded Sparks are tied 1-1 in the best-of-three series with the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the Western Conference Semifinals. Bradford hasn’t seen in action in the first two games of the series after recording nine points and three rebounds in 17 minutes in the Sparks’ final regular season game.
The two teams square off in the winner-take-all Game 3 on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
The former Mid-American Conference Player of the Year was drafted with the seventh pick in the first round of the 2015 WNBA draft.
It was a slow start to the season for Bradford as she didn’t sign with the Sparks until July 21, causing her to miss the first 15 games of the season.
In 15 games this season, the Detroit native finished the regular season averaging 2.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 9.4 minutes of play per game.
The 6-foot guard made her WNBA debut on July 22, at the 6:24 mark of the second quarter against the New York Liberty. Bradford scored her first professional basket 21 seconds later on an assist from Erin Phillips.
Bradford’s best performance of her rookie season came against the Indiana Fever on Aug. 26. She scored a career-high nine points, went 2-for-3 from the 3-point line and had a season-high five rebounds helping the Sparks to an 81-79 victory.
The former Chippewa standout made her first career start Sept. 9 in a 90-60 loss to the Atlanta Dream, where she scored four points, grabbed three rebounds and recorded two steals in 26 minutes on the court.
Bradford finished her CMU career as the career leader in points, rebounds and field goals made. She is the first CMU women’s basketball player to ever play in the WNBA.
