Dearica Hamby scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds and the Los Angeles Sparks rallied for an 89-82 win, snapping the Minnesota Lynx’s 10-game winning streak on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot for Los Angeles (12-18). Rae Burrell scored a team-high 17 points and Cameron Brink scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds off the bench.
Olivia Miles finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead Minnesota (25-7). Napheesa Collier added 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
The Sparks outscored the Lynx 23-11 in the fourth quarter to earn the comeback win.
Brink made a jump shot to put the Sparks on top 81-79 with 5:17 to play.
Kayla McBride answered on the other end with a 3-pointer as the Lynx regained an 82-81 lead with 4:53 left. That proved to be the final basket for Minnesota, which struggled against Los Angeles’ defense.
Ogwumike made a running layup to put Los Angeles back on top 83-82 with 2:39 left. Erica Wheeler followed with a jump shot to make it 85-82 with 1:59 to go, and Monique Akoa Makani made a step-back jumper to make it 87-82 with 1:18 to play.
Wheeler finished the scoring with a layup with 37.5 seconds remaining.
Los Angeles trailed 71-66 at the end of the third quarter.
Akoa Makani kept the Sparks within striking distance with five points in the final 2:20 of the third. She converted a three-point play with a driving layup to cut the deficit to 67-61 and knocked down a pull-up jump shot from 15 feet to bring Los Angeles within 69-66 with 20.1 seconds left in the quarter.
The Lynx built a 48-40 lead at the half.
Miles helped Minnesota pull ahead in the final minutes before the break.
The rookie point guard dribbled toward the paint and stepped back for a 3-pointer to give the Lynx a 43-37 lead with 2:07 left in the half. Miles followed that with another highlight-reel play as she showed off her ball-handling skills and elevated for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Minnesota an eight-point lead at the break.
–Field Level Media
