Auburn Hills, MI -- Deanna Nolan drilled a three-pointer with 53 seconds remaining to put Detroit ahead for good and the Shock went on to post an 83-78 victory over Los Angeles in the decisive Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at The Palace.

The Shock captured their first league championship and ended the two-year reign of the Sparks. The game was played in front of 22,076 fans, marking the largest crowd in the history of the WNBA.

"The crowd was unbelievable," Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said. Laimbeer now has three championships to his credit as he won a pair of titles as a player for the Detroit Pistons.

Detroit lost the opener of the best-of-three series at Staples Center, but rebounded to take the next two contests on its home floor. The Shock garnered the home-court advantage by finishing the regular season with the best record in the league (25-9). The Sparks had the second-best mark at 24-10.

Ruth Riley netted a career-high 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting and also grabbed six boards for Detroit, which finished with the worst record in the league (9-23) in 2002. Riley was named the Finals MVP.

Nolan finished with 17 points, while teammate Swin Cash contributed 13 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

Mwadi Mabika poured in 29 points and pulled down nine boards for Los Angeles. Delisha Milton had 19 points and Tamecka Dixon added 14 in the losing effort. Lisa Leslie chipped in 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Sparks before fouling out in the final minute.

The Shock opened the second half with a 14-8 run, culminated by Riley's basket, to grab a 56-45 advantage with just over 15 minutes left.

Los Angeles then rallied and took a 70-68 lead on a jumper by Milton with 5:07 remaining.

After the teams traded baskets, Leslie made 1-of-2 from the foul line to give the Sparks a 73-70 lead with 3:40 left.

Riley hit a shot with 2:20 remaining, before Nolan hit the key three-pointer to put the Shock in front 75-73. Nolan hit the game-winning free throws with 12 seconds left in Game 2.

Leslie then missed a shot and committed her sixth personal when she fouled Cheryl Ford, who proceeded to make both attempts from the stripe to increase the lead to 77-73 with 43.6 seconds remaining.

"This is probably the most physical game that I've ever played in my life," Leslie said. "I guess this is where our game is going."

Mabika hit a jumper on the other end and Los Angeles fouled Nolan with 32.9 seconds left. Nolan sank a pair to restore a four-point margin.

Milton then drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 79-78 with 24.8 seconds left on the clock.

Nolan again was fouled one second later and converted both free throws. The Sparks then got the ball to Nikki Teasley, who misfired on a jumper. Ford ended up with the ball and was fouled. She hit both shots from the line with 12.5 seconds remaining to seal it.

"You couldn't ask for a better game than what you got out there today," Sparks head coach Michael Cooper said. "The Detroit Shock are definitely worthy of this championship."

The Shock are just the third franchise to win the WNBA title. The Houston Comets captured the first four, while the Sparks took the last two.

Detroit gained control early, scoring 23 of the first 32 points of the game. Riley had 10 points during the early surge that staked the Shock to a 14- point advantage with 11 minutes left in the opening half.

The Sparks battled back and took a 32-31 lead on Dixon's jumper with four minutes remaining in the stanza.

Detroit then responded with an 11-3 run, capped by Kedra Holland-Corn's three- pointer, to move back in front 42-35. The Shock eventually carried a 42-37 advantage into the locker room at halftime.