Behind a big third quarter run, the Sparks snapped their losing streak to knock off the Sky on Sunday afternoon, 91-78.
Kelsey Plum fueled that run to finish with 28 points and eight assists. Azurá Stevens scored 24 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished three assists.
Dearica Hamby did a bit of everything to finish with 10 points, six rebounds and eight assists and six steals. Odyssey Sims continued her great offensive play of late, ending with 12 points. Sarah Ashlee Barker pitched in with a season-high nine points.
The game began with both teams starting slow offensively until Azurá converted on a pull-up jumper. After that shot, things got going for each team. Although she missed her first four shots, Dearica made a difference with her defense, stealing the ball three times and blocking a shot in the opening frame.
Barker, Los Angeles’s rookie, had the most points for the team early with four. The Sparks had a four-point lead with under four minutes left in the quarter.
That lead quickly evaporated with Chicago’s Angel Reese and Courtney Vandersloot heating up offensively. They combined for 12 of Chicago’s 19 points. At the end of the first, the purple and gold were up two.
Chicago started the second quarter with seven straight points to jump ahead. Rebecca Allen was cooking with five points. Azurá converted on a jumper to stop the Sky’s scoring surge. Kamilla Cardoso picked up her third foul, giving the Sparks another boost.
After having a strong game against the Valkyries, Odyssey picked up where she left off and was already in double digits with 11 points.
The Sparks retook the lead with three minutes left until halftime off a 3-pointer by Odyssey. Reese then gave the Sky the lead back with a layup. Neither team could gather enough points to build on a big lead.
Odyssey scored four straight points to put LA back up. Kelsey knocked down her first three of the game.
At halftime, Los Angeles was up by four.
The Sky were quickly cutting the deficit down to start the second half on the shoulders of Ariel Atkins and Vandersloot, who scored a combined five points early. Kelsey and Azurá answered with five points themselves. Former Spark Kia Nurse then tied the game with four points, as it was a battle of mini runs.
The 3-pointers were flying for LA as they drained five more. Kelsey was now up to 24 points, 17 of which came in this quarter.
We often see the Sparks lose games in the third with poor play, but this was an impressive frame in every way. Aside from Kelsey’s insane scoring, the team hustled and battled hard throughout the quarter. LA won the quarter with 33-25 to lead by 12 going into the fourth.
The Sparks missed their first four shots to start the final period. Chicago took advantage of LA going cold by scoring five points to cut the deficit to single digits. The scoring run extended to 7-0 for the Sky until Sarah drained a long-range shot to stop Chicago’s surge.
Los Angeles responded with an 8-0 run to put themselves back up by double digits. Cardoso scored four points to try and jump-start a late-game comeback for Chicago.
The Sparks missed a few good buckets, putting false comeback hope into the minds of the Sky. But with 51 seconds left in the game and a double-digit lead, LA sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
Key Takeaways:
Everyone eat some plums in honor of Kelsey!
LA looked focused and battled hard throughout the third quarter. They need to build on this for each game. Games are usually won or lost in the third.
The Sparks’ next game will be Tuesday against the Atlanta Dream at 7:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
