Azura Stevens hit for 21 points and Dearica Hamby added 20 as the Los Angeles Sparks blew past the hapless Dallas Wings 93-79 on Friday in a Western Conference Commissioner’s Cup game in Arlington, Texas.
The Sparks (3-6) led by five points at halftime and expanded that advantage to 67-55 after three quarters. Los Angeles poured it on over the first two and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, pushed the margin to 21 points and cruised to the finish line to snap a three-game losing streak and create some separation from Dallas in the Western Conference table.
Los Angeles is now 1-1 in the Commissioner’s Cup standings while the Wings are 0-2.
Odyssey Sims added 19 points, Kelsey Plum had 11 points and nine assists and Rickea Jackson scored 10 points for Los Angeles.
DiJonai Carrington led the Wings (1-8) with 16 points. JJ Quinerly added 14 points off the bench, with Luisa Geiselsoder pitching in 11 points and 10 rebounds with Kaila Charles hitting for 10.
Dallas, which dropped its fourth straight game and has the worst record in the league, played without star rookie Paige Bueckers and fellow point guard Tyasha Harris, who are both out as they work their way back from concussions.
The Sparks used a 9-0 run capped by Hamby’s running layup at the 6:40 mark of the first period to take a 13-5 lead. Plum’s layup with 2:23 to play in the quarter pushed the advantage to nine points before Los Angeles settled for a 21-17 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Stephens’ 3-pointer with 5:26 to play in the second period stoked the Sparks’ lead to 34-24 but Dallas swung back, culling their deficit to 37-35 when Myisha Hines-Allen converted a layup 1:48 left until halftime. Stephens responded with another basket from beyond the arc and Sims scored on a layup to grant Los Angeles a 45-40 edge at the break.
Stevens led all scorers before halftime with 13 points while Hamby had 11 for Los Angeles, which outshot Dallas 52.9 percent to 37.5 percent over the first two quarters. Carrington and Kaila Charles paced the Wings with eight points each in the first half.
–Field Level Media
