The Los Angeles Sparks will attempt to extend their first winning streak of the season when they face the host Seattle Storm on Tuesday night in the opener of a seven-game road trip.
Tuesday’s contest will be a Commissioner’s Cup game.
After snapping a three-game skid with an 81-72 victory over the Dallas Wings on Friday, the Sparks (4-7) scored a 96-92 win over the Aces on Sunday. Los Angeles weathered 31 points from A’ja Wilson, as well as a 14-0 run by Las Vegas to open the game, thanks to a balanced offensive effort.
Dearica Hamby recorded her third consecutive double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Rickea Jackson and reserve Aari McDonald each supplied 16 points. Hamby ranks fifth in the WNBA with 20.4 points per game. She also ranks second in boards per game (11.5).
Meanwhile, rookie Cameron Brink continues to make an impact on the defensive end. She had a season-high-tying five blocks on Sunday, bringing her season average up to 2.8 per game, third best in the league.
“Our rookies are growing up before your eyes,” Sparks coach Curt Miller said. “(Brink’s) rim protection, even shots she’s not blocking, she’s making people take difficult shots.”
Los Angeles will go for a three-game winning streak against a Seattle team that had rattled off six straight victories ahead of Sunday’s 83-64 road loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
The Storm (7-4) struggled to find the bottom of the net all night, making just 26 of 75 field-goal attempts (34.7 percent) and 4 of 22 3-pointers (18.2 percent).
Seattle’s shooting woes from beyond the arc have been a season-long trend, as the Storm rank ninth in the 12-team WNBA in 3-point percentage at 30.8 percent.
“Some of it’s catch-and-shoots,” said Seattle guard Jewell Loyd, last season’s WNBA scoring champion at 24.7 points per game.
This year, Loyd is averaging 20.3 points while hitting 1.5 triples per game, half of last season’s mark of 3.0. She is also attempting less threes compared to the 2023 campaign (8.5 to 5.3), but she attributes the change in playstyle to Seattle’s effective fastbreak offense.
“We get downhill so much that it’s just different, our ability to set great screens (to free up outsider shooters),” Loyd said.
–Field Level Media
