The Los Angeles Sparks, one of the hottest teams in the WNBA over the past month, will try to recover from a modest stumble when they face the Dallas Wings on Friday in Arlington, Texas.
The Sparks won the initial game of the season series with Dallas 93-79 on the road June 6. Friday’s contest is the first of three between the teams over the final month of the campaign.
Los Angeles (15-17) is coming off a 105-97 home loss to the New York Liberty on Tuesday. Kelsey Plum poured in 26 points, Dearica Hamby added 21 points and Azura Stevens and Rickea Jackson had 17 and 16 points, respectively.
The Sparks fell for just the third time in their past 12 games. They were looking to get back to .500 for the first time since opening the season 1-1.
“(We plan to) just continue the momentum we’ve had the last 12 games,” Hamby said following the loss. “One game shouldn’t break us. We did a lot of things well, but we didn’t play our best basketball. We have really important games coming up that we should win, and (we’ll) go from there.”
Los Angeles’ Cameron Brink, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2024, collected two points and three rebounds in five first-half minutes and did not see the court in the second half after tweaking her ankle. She was playing in her seventh game since missing more than a year following knee surgery. She was back at practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Wings (9-24) head home after a rousing 81-80 win in Indiana on Tuesday that snapped a five-game losing streak. Maddy Siegrist tied a career high with 22 points for Dallas, with Li Yueru adding 20 points and Paige Bueckers amassing 16 points and eight assists.
The Wings used a 19-0 run in the third quarter to build a huge lead and were still up by 17 midway through the fourth before Indiana roared back. The Fever actually had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Kelsey Mitchell’s shot was off the mark, which allowed Dallas to win for just the second time in its past nine outings.
Star guard Arike Ogunbowale did not play for Dallas against Indiana because of right knee soreness and has been ruled out for Friday’s game.
“For me, the most important thing was getting the win,” Siegrist said. “So that was the mentality going in. Obviously, without Arike (Tuesday night), we kind of knew it was going to be step-up-by-committee. It feels good when shots go in. I’m just trying to be more consistent.”
–Field Level Media
