Woman Possessed

As for her ability to perform in big games, Leslie increased her scoring (22.3 points) and rebounding (12.3) averages in the playoffs while blocking 4.8 shots per game. She first wore down the four-time defending champion Comets, then the Monarchs and finally the Sting. "She's a problem," said Charlotte coach Anne Donovan after Saturday's game. "A post player has to guard her because of her size. Yet try to find one who has the footwork to guard her on the perimeter and the physical presence to guard her in the low post. Our answer was Charlotte Smith, and she gave up five inches. That's a serious mismatch. In every way Lisa is a step above everybody else."

Nearly two hours after she helped deliver Los Angeles its second pro basketball title of the year, Leslie emerged from the Sparks' locker room dressed in a skirt and heels and carrying nothing but a bunch of grapes. Before she headed upstairs to join a party thrown by team president Johnny Buss, she paused to ponder what she had unloaded as well as what she had acquired during the finals. "I'm not sure I'd call this championship getting the monkey off my back," she said. "What I did was find the heart I needed to win the big games, and that feels great."