WNBA round-up: Los Angeles Sparks snap six-game losing streak with rout of Seattle Storm
Live coverage of the WNBA continues on Wednesday as the league-leading Connecticut Sun host the New York Liberty. The Liberty are one game outside the playoff spots while the Sun can break their franchise record winning-streak with a victory. Join us at midnight on Sky Sports Mix and Arena
Tuesday 14 September 2021 12:00, UK
Te'a Cooper scored 19 points as the host Los Angeles Sparks snapped a six-game losing streak with a convincing 81-53 victory over the Seattle Storm on Sunday night.
Seattle Storm 53 - 81 Los Angeles Sparks
Nneka Ogwumike contributed 17 points and seven rebounds, and Erica Wheeler also scored 17 points, as Los Angeles (11-19) remained alive in the battle for the eighth and final WNBA playoff spot. The Sparks have two regular-season games remaining.
Brittney Sykes recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds in a contest Los Angeles led by as many 30 points.
Seattle star Breanna Stewart (left-foot injury) sat out and won't play again in the regular season.
Epiphanny Prince scored 12 points to pace the Storm (20-11), who lost for the fourth time in the past six games and fell into fourth place in the league standings.
Jewell Loyd had just five points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field and Sue Bird had only three points on 1-of-7 shooting for Seattle, who registered a season-low point total.
The Storm hit just 32.1 per cent of their field-goal attempts and made 6-of-27 three-point attempts, while the Sparks shot 48.4 per cent from the field and were 6-of-13 from behind the arc.
The Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty remain one game behind the Washington Mystics in the race for the playoffs.
Los Angeles were outscored 17-0 at the outset of Thursday's 75-57 loss to the Connecticut Sun but had no trouble getting started this time.
Wheeler's jumper to make it 6-4 just 2:37 into the contest put the Sparks ahead for good. A short time later, Los Angeles rattled off 10 straight points to open a 22-9 lead with 1:16 left in the opening quarter.
Wheeler and Cooper opened the second quarter with three-pointers as the Sparks increased their lead to 30-13.
Wheeler scored five straight points later in the half to push the margin to 20 before Los Angeles settled for a 45-27 halftime lead.
The Storm were unable to make a push in the third quarter, and the Sparks saw their lead reach 66-40 on Sykes' basket with 10.1 seconds left in the period. Cooper's layup pushed the Los Angeles lead to 79-49 with 3:16 remaining.
Washington Mystics 79 - 71 Chicago Sky
Tina Charles dropped 31 points and 10 rebounds and led the visiting Washington Mystics on a big first-half run en route to a crucial 79-71 win over the Chicago Sky.
Natasha Cloud added 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Washington (12-18) held on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the league standings with a week left in the regular season.
Azura Stevens led the Sky with 18 points, and Candace Parker had 12 points with 11 rebounds on 5 of 12 shooting. Guard Allie Quigley added 15 points. Charles, the WNBA's leading scorer, drilled a clutch three with 1:39 to play after Chicago had cut an 18-point second-half deficit to two, 71-69. She went 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.
Chicago (15-15) led 14-9 in the first quarter before Washington took over. The Mystics went on a 15-0 run to finish out the period, ending it with Leilani Mitchell's 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 24-14 lead.
The ice-cold Sky finally ended its long scoring drought with a Quigley free throw at the 8:31 mark of the second quarter. Then Charles and Mitchell hit back-to-back 3s for a 30-15 Washington lead with 7:08 left in the half.
In the third quarter, Sky head coach James Wade subbed out four of the five players on the court right before the Mystics stretched their lead to 56-38. Then Chicago's effort level went up.
A three-pointer and layup from Dana Evans made it 61-53 after three quarters, and Chicago made it 69-66 with 3:55 left in the game on Parker's pass to Quigley for a short jumper in transition.
The Mystics remained without star Elena Della Donne, who has missed six straight games due to injury.
Indiana Fever 80 - 90 Minnesota Lynx
Napheesa Collier scored 22 points and dished seven assists, Sylvia Fowles recorded 18 points and Aerial Powers added 17 as the Minnesota Lynx weathered a second-half run to hold off the Indiana Fever 90-80 in Minneapolis.
Minnesota (20-10) started and finished strong en route to their seventh win in the last eight games. In between, however, the Lynx had to respond to a raucous comeback from the visiting Fever.
After trailing by a double-digit margin for much of the first half -- including by as many as 16 points in the second quarter -- Indiana (6-23) went on a 14-6 run in the third that changed the game's tone.
The Fever outscored the Lynx in the period 27-15 to take a two-point advantage into the fourth. The teams exchanged the lead nine times in the final quarter and were tied four times before Minnesota's game-ending, 12-2 run.
Kelsey Mitchell led all scorers with 25 points, 15 of which came from behind the three-point arc. Her 5-of-7 shooting from long distance helped Indiana to an 8-of-17 team performance, and Mitchell connected on two to help keep Indiana on pace with Minnesota for much of the fourth quarter.
Victoria Vivians made two three-pointers en route to 10 points for the Fever and dished seven assists. Lindsay Allen and Tiffany Mitchell also scored 10 points apiece, and Teaira McCowan added 17 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Minnesota matched Indiana's scoring balance with all five Lynx starters hitting in double figures. Joining Collier, Fowles and Powers, Kayla McBride added 12 points and Crystal Dangerfield scored four of her 11 points on consecutive possessions in the game's waning moments to effectively seal the win.
