Sparks coach Lynne Roberts drops truth bomb on seldom-used rookie

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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks selected three players in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Sarah Ashlee Barker, Sania Feagin and Liatu King. Barker and Feagin made the team out of training camp while King was cut, but later brought back on a hardship contract. With the Sparks being hit with a wave of absences and injury issues, the rookies have been called into duty early in the season.
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Barker and King have been part of the rotation for most of the year, but Sania Feagin has been the one rookie on the Sparks roster who hasn't seen much playing time. That changed during the team's 98-67 loss to the Seattle Storm on Tuesday.
Feagin came off the bench and played a little over ten minutes, a career-high so far. Before Tuesday's game, she had only played in three other games averaging between two to three minutes of playing time. She did not score at all against the Storm, going 0-of-4 from the field, but her intensity and instincts on the defensive end stood out.
Following the game, Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts acknowledged the impact Feagin had in extended minutes.
'I wanted to give her a shot here and just see if she could bring some life. We needed some life,' Roberts said. 'She didn't connect on those shots, but she still brought life. She had a great block. She's a big, strong kid and she just brings energy. She talks, all those things, so we can build on that with her.'
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The block that Roberts was talking about came as the third quarter was winding down. Storm guard Erica Wheeler found herself matched up with Feagin. Wheeler beat Feagin off the dribble and got to the basket, only to have Feagin quickly recover and block the shot with her off-hand. That block was one of a a team-high three blocked shots she had on the night.
But it wasn't only Feagin's defense that was on display for the Sparks. When she was in college at South Carolina, Feagin showed the ability to pass not only out of the post, but from the high post finding cutters and post-ups as well. She did that too against the Storm, as noted by Christan Braswell of Circling Seattle Sports.
Back during training camp, Feagin spoke about expanding her game to be able to shoot more from three-point range. She took two three-point shots against the Storm but did not covert on either of them. They were rhythm shots though, and her confidence in shooting those threes is certainly a welcome sign for the Sparks.
The injuries and absences the Sparks have been hit with are mainly on the wing and in the backcourt. The team's frontcourt is veteran-heavy with Dearica Hamby and Azurá Stevens as the starters, and Emma Cannon and Mercedes Russell off the bench. So it's not clear yet what kind of a role Feagin may have going forward. But she showed what she can be capable of in her first extended run of the season.
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