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With a chance to win the WNBA championship Sunday at home in front of a supportive crowd at Staples Center, Los Angeles lost 85-79. Now the Sparks have to go on the road for a winner-take-all Game 5 at Minnesota.Thats a pretty tough spot -- but the Sparks are a pretty positive-minded group, and one of their veterans has her own personal mantra to help. Alana Beard is in her 13th year as a pro, and shes been through some trials, for sure.Yet Beard has been a constant source of good vibes and uplifting support for her Sparks teammates. A win Thursday (ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET) would be the first WNBA title for all the current Sparks players. Even if they dont win, Beard will find solace in having given it her all, and in her belief in advice she got in 2001 but didnt fully grasp until a decade later.Beard had finished an outstanding freshman year at Duke and was playing for USA Basketball in the junior world championship in July 2001 in the Czech Republic. Oklahomas Sherri Coale was an assistant coach to UConns Geno Auriemma for that U.S. team.Duke and Oklahoma had been the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the same NCAA regional that March, but both were upset in the semifinals and didnt meet. Beard and Coale were still processing how their seasons had ended. And Coale recognized in Beard something of a kindred spirit.I remember relating so much to Alana because her desire to do well and to be good and make everybody proud was so intense, Coale said. I told her, Youve never heard of this group called .38 Special, but they have this great song called Hold On Loosely. Its a good thing to keep in mind.Beard, then 19, indeed was not familiar with the band nor the song; it was released in 1981 and she was born in 1982. Still, Coales message stuck as a seed, but one that would take awhile to germinate.She said, Do you understand what that means? Beard said. I was like, Yeah, sure. Hold on loosely. I get it. But I really didnt understand what it meant until I was 29 years old.At Duke from 2000-2004, Beard went to the Final Four twice, but didnt get a championship. In her first six WNBA seasons with the Washington Mystics, she was often the leading scorer, but at times struggled to truly lead. Then she was out for two WNBA consecutive seasons with serious ankle and foot issues.Her second missed season was 2011, when she turned 29. That was the year Beard said she had an epiphany. Coales advice from so long again found its way to the surface.I was going through my injury, and I realized basketball alone didnt define me, Beard said. When you go through tough times, you start to understand more about yourself. Basketball was my everything. There were times I was so focused on basketball, I didnt have time for relationships, or my family. And I never wanted to get to that point again.Its weird how it came back to me. It hit me like an aha moment. In my mind, hold on loosely means sometimes you can want something so badly that it slips right out of your grasp. Thats where Ive been at the college level, and at points in my WNBA career. Ive wanted it so badly that it slips away. Now, I know how to hold on loosely.Beard moved on from Washington as a free agent to Los Angeles in 2012, a team that has had its ups but also some downs, including a mid-season coaching change in 2014, and another coach in 2015. Beard, now 34, missed the first part of last season with plantar fasciitis.Earlier this season after a loss, Beard said Los Angeles coach Brian Agler wanted to remind the Sparks about who they were and what they were trying to accomplish.Coach posed the question, If you were an outsider looking in, what would you say about this team? Beard said. We were going through a rough patch. And I said, This team needs to understand what holding on loosely means. And when I explained it, they all understood it.Did they know the song? No. Beard didnt even recall that part. But the message is what mattered. The lyrics are about relationships between people, but its not a stretch to extend it to how you feel about anything that you really love.When Coale was asked about it recently, her first thought was on her profession in general.As coaches, we must be so aware of what we say, how we say it and when we say it, Coale said. Because it is impactful, for good or ill. These young players in our care are so malleable.We hope thats the cornerstone of everything we do as high school and college coaches -- that were giving people tools with which to successfully navigate not just basketball, but their lives.It also was particularly meaningful to her that Beard recalled this advice and benefited from it. That 2001 junior world championship team didnt win the gold; the Americans were upset by the host Czech Republic in the semifinals and then took bronze. However, it was a group of several future WNBA standouts, including Beard, Diana Taurasi, Cappie Pondexter, Monique Currie, Nicole Powell and Shameka Christon.I actually have a picture of that team in a frame on my shelf in my living room, Coale said. Of all the teams -- and I wasnt even the head coach! Its not like I have pictures of all the teams Ive coached; I dont have enough walls. But I have a picture of that team.It was a really neat connection with that group of kids. And my daughter, who was little then, just loved Alana Beard. So did my son.In fact, Colton Coale, who now works with his mom at Oklahoma, texted her after Beards game-winning basket in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.He was like, Mom, did you see Alanas shot? Coale said. If you get a chance, tell Alana that Sherri and Colton Coale are watching, and we are really proud of her.Even after an emotionally difficult loss like Game 4, Beard still spoke positively about the Sparks having another chance. 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It worked.Dont miss a ball as England take on Sri Lanka this summer, with every match live on Sky Sports. After victory in South Africa, Alastair Cook and the Test side will look to continue the winning habit on home soil, while Eoin Morgan and the white-ball team are looking to bounce back from defeat in the ICC World T20 final.Sky Sports is here to keep you right up-to-date with all the action as it happens, while you can also follow online and via mobile and selected tablet devices… Live coverage on Sky Sports: watch every ball of every match live on Sky Sports as England and Sri Lanka compete in a three-match Test series before five ODIs and a T20 international - former Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene joins our punditry team for the series and will work alongside the likes of David Lloyd and Sir Ian Botham.Highlights and Verdict: Following the days play on Sky Sports, you will be able to watch an hour-long highlights programme, before Bob Willis and The Verdict panel analyse the Test-match action. Watch a feast of cricket on Sky Sports this summer skysports.com: our new-look responsive website will bring you a live rolling blog of each game, plus match reports, news, reaction, analysis, scorecards, videos and podcasts.Score Centre: get team line-ups, scorecards, photos and match stats on your desktop or mobile - plus international and domestic scores and the latest odds from Sky Bet.Sky Go: stay with the action online, on iPhone, iPad or selected Anndroid smartphones with the Sky Go app.ddddddddddddwitter: follow @SkyCricket for score updates and news throughout the series.ENGLAND v SRI LANKA IN 2016England are looking to complete a Test-trophy clean sweep this summer and can move a step closer to that achievement when they take on Sri Lanka in a three-match series.Alastair Cooks men are the favourites and will be in confident mood heading into the series having beaten the then-No 1 ranked team South Africa on their own patch over the winter. However, Sri Lanka will have happy memories of playing in England after their 1-0 Test series win back in 2014. Sri Lanka celebrate victory at Headingley in 2014 Captain Angelo Mathews brings over a much younger side, shorn of prolific run-scorers Kumar Sangakkara and Jayawardene, on this occasion and face a real challenge to overcome England over the matches at Headingley, Emirates Riverside in Durham and Lords, all live on Sky Sports.After the third Test at Lords, attention turns to the shorter format of the game with Eoin Morgan set to lead England in five ODIs and a T20 match.England have been reborn in white-ball cricket since a nightmare showing at last years 50-over World Cup and surpassed all expectations to reach the World T20 final earlier in 2016. Jos Buttler celebrates after scoring a century during the first ODI between England and South Africa However, after a heart-breaking final over defeat to the West Indies, it remains to be seen how this talented, young England side will respond. The likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler will be keen to ensure that the team comes out fighting and maintains the standards they reached for much of the tournament in India.You can see how they get on with Sky Sports bringing you each and every match of the series live.Watch the first Test between England and Sri Lanka from 10am, Thursday, Sky Sports 2. Also See: Fixtures/results Live cricket on Sky Get Sky Sports Cricket videos ' ' '