Nneka Ogwumike scored 24 points, Rae Burrell produced 12 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Sparks overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat the visiting Washington Mystics 88-82 on Friday.
Reserve Cameron Brink had 13 points and two blocked shots and Monique Akoa Makani scored 10 points off the bench for the Sparks (14-25), who turned 17 Washington turnovers into 31 points.
Los Angeles had lost 14 of its past 17 games.
Sonia Citron scored 22 points while Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin had double-doubles for the Mystics (24-16), who lost a chance to gain ground in the race for playoff positioning. They had won 12 of 15.
Iriafen finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for her 20th double-double, and Austin had 19 and 10, respectively, for her 18th.
Ogwumike, who has said this season will be her last, shot 11 of 16 from the field and 2 of 3 on 3-point attempts. She also had five assists, four steals and four rebounds.
The Mystics remain in sixth place but have only a half-game lead over both the Dallas Wings (23-16) and New York Liberty (23-16). Washington is two games behind the fourth-place Indiana Fever (26-14). The top four teams get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Sparks closed the game on a 16-6 run sparked by Burrell to beat the Mystics for the second time in three meetings this season.
Citron’s jumper gave Washington a 76-72 lead with 6:16 remaining before Burrell had an assist and a pair of layups around a pair of turnovers for a 78-76 edge.
Burrell’s step-back trey made it a five-point margin with 2:54 left. After Brink blocked a short Austin shot, Burrell capped a 13-2 run with a layup for an 85-78 edge.
The Mystics outscored the Sparks 28-17 in the second quarter and led by as many as 17 before the Sparks closed to within 51-40 entering halftime.
Iriafen scored nine points in the second quarter, and her layup pushed the lead 42-30 before Citron’s 3-pointer gave the Mystics their largest advantage, 49-32.
The Sparks took a 63-62 lead late in the third before Georgia Amoore hit two 3-pointers in the final 34 seconds to give the Mystics a 68-65 lead.
Amoore, who had nine points on three treys, was coming off a career-high 25-point effort with six 3-pointers a win at Phoenix on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
