Los Angeles’ Kelsey Plum scored 28 points despite missing two late free throws as the Sparks survived a furious Dallas rally over the final five minutes to beat the Wings 97-96 on Friday in Arlington, Texas.
The Sparks (16-17) never trailed, yet the win was anything but easy.
Los Angeles led by just three points at halftime before expanding its advantage to 80-68 heading into the fourth quarter. Plum’s 3-pointer with 8:11 to play pushed the Sparks’ margin to 15 points, but Dallas responded, drawing to within 95-91 when Aziaha James’ layup with 1:54 left capped an 11-2 run.
JJ Quinerly poured in a 3-pointer from the corner with 15.1 seconds left to bring the Wings within a point.
After the pair of missed free throws by Plum with 12.3 seconds remaining, Dallas’ Paige Bueckers had a chance to win the game, but her 3-point attempt with 1.5 seconds to play rimmed out and allowed the Sparks to escape.
Dearica Hamby added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles. Rickea Jackson and Azura Stevens had 15 each, and Julie Allemand recorded 12 points and 10 assists.
Bueckers led all scorers with 29 points, with Maddy Siegrist adding 15 for the Wings (9-25), who have dropped six of their past seven outings. Quinerly put up 11 points and nine assists, and James contributed 10 points.
Dallas played without star guard Arike Ogunbowale (right knee soreness) for the second straight game.
The Sparks jumped to a 15-6 lead after a three-point play by Hamby at the 6:54 mark of the first quarter. Dallas culled its deficit to two points multiple times before Los Angeles swung back to carry a 32-27 edge into the second.
The Wings tied the game at 34-34 when Diamond Miller scored on a layup 2 1/2 minutes into the second quarter. Los Angeles rebuilt the lead to a half-high 11 points on Jackson’s two made free throws with 1:05 left in the period before the Wings roared back to score the final eight points and draw within 53-50 entering the break.
Hamby led all scorers before halftime with 16 points, while Jackson had 13 and Plum 12. Bueckers paced the Wings with 15 points in the half.
–Field Level Media
