Nneka Ogwumike recorded 20 points, 11 rebounds and three steals to lead the Los Angeles Sparks to an 87-80 victory over the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
Layshia Clarendon added 17 points as the Sparks (11-18) won their second straight game after losing 11 of their previous 13. Karlie Samuelson had 13 points and Jordin Canada added 10 points and seven assists for Los Angeles.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston added 18 points and nine rebounds as Indiana (7-22) lost for the 15th time in 17 games. Grace Berger added 14 points off the bench for the Fever.
Indiana led 71-64 after NaLyssa Smith’s layup with 6:26 remaining before Los Angeles erupted with a game-changing 15-2 surge.
Samuelson drained a 3-pointer and then added three free throws after being fouled attempting a trey to pull Los Angeles within one. Ogwumike’s driving layup gave the Sparks a 72-71 edge with 4:51 remaining.
Jasmine Thomas drained a 3-pointer with 3:17 left to culminate the burst and give the Sparks a 79-73 lead.
The Fever scored the next three points to cut their deficit in half. But Thomas hit a jumper with 44.1 seconds left, and Canada made a technical foul shot with 36 seconds to go and added two free throws with 31.1 seconds left to give Los Angeles an 84-76 advantage.
Los Angeles completed a 3-0 season sweep of Indiana.
The Sparks shot 40.3 percent from the field and were 8-for-19 from 3-point range.
Indiana connected on 46.9 percent of its shots, including 6 of 20 shots from behind the arc. The Fever committed 21 turnovers.
Indiana led 41-40 at halftime before both teams shot 35.3 percent (6 of 17) and scored 17 points in the third quarter. Azura Stevens made two free throws with 0.6 seconds left to bring the Sparks within 58-57.
Los Angeles led 10-2 just two-plus minutes into the contest before the Fever got going. Boston had 12 points in the stanza as Indiana led 27-23 entering the second quarter.
Berger scored five straight points as the Fever built a 34-25 lead with 5:17 left in the first half. The Sparks answered with a 14-5 burst and tied it at 39 with 1:49 remaining.
–Field Level Media
