Kelsey Plum scored 20 of her 27 points in the second half, Nneka Ogwumike added 20 points and the Los Angeles Sparks picked up their first victory of the season by getting past the visiting Toronto Tempo 99-95 on Friday.
Dearica Hamby scored 19 points with seven rebounds and Rae Burrell added 13 points as the Sparks (1-2) got off to a fast start and held off a late Tempo surge. Plum finished with nine assists and went 4 of 8 from 3-point range.
Brittney Sykes scored 27 points against her former team and Laura Juskaite added 16 off the bench as the Tempo (1-2) lost their first road game in franchise history. Nyara Sabally scored 14 points for Toronto, which earned its first-ever victory Tuesday over the Seattle Storm.
Tempo rookie Kiki Rice, who won a national title with UCLA last month, scored 11 points in her return to Los Angeles.
The Sparks shot 63.8% from the floor and scored 54 points in the paint. The Tempo shot 44.3% and forced the Sparks into 16 turnovers.
After trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half, the Tempo had a chance to tie the game late but Marina Mabrey missed a 3-pointer with 27.1 seconds remaining while trailing 95-92. Mabrey was held to seven points after she averaged 26.5 points in the opening two games.
Plum made two free throws for the Sparks with 13.8 seconds left and Cameron Brink added a pair from the line with 8.9 seconds on the clock.
Los Angeles grabbed a 10-0 lead less than two minutes into the game and held a 19-2 advantage. The Tempo pulled within 29-24 with 7:29 remaining in the first half before the Sparks took a 48-38 lead into halftime.
The Sparks led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter before Toronto pulled within 89-85 with 2:56 remaining on a fadeaway from Juskaite. Toronto got as close as two points at 89-87 with 2:26 remaining after a layup from Sykes.
The Sparks were without guard Ariel Atkins, who went into concussion protocol after departing from Wednesday’s loss to the Indiana Fever.
–Field Level Media
