The Los Angeles Sparks lost to a team near the bottom of the standings by a close margin on June 6 (Storm) and on Sunday (Lynx). They followed up the June 6 loss with a comfortable win over a team in the middle of the standings (Sky) and followed up Sunday’s loss with the same thing, defeating the Dallas Wings 79-61 Wednesday afternoon at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Dearica Hamby led LA (5-4) with a season-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds and two steals. Nneka Ogwumike added 20 points, 10 boards and two swipes while Jordin Canada had 15 points and six assists. Hamby was an impressive 10-of-15 from the field and 1-of-1 from deep, though she was 2-of-6 at the stripe.
The Sparks led by 10 entering the fourth.
Kalani Brown notched a career-high 21 points in defeat. She added 11 rebounds and was 10-of-14 from the field. Satou Sabally played nearly the full 40 minutes, posting 14 points, 13 boards and four helpers for Dallas (5-5). After shooting 30 percent or better from distance in six of her first seven outings, Sabally went a season-worst 1-of-6 in each of her last two games. Arike Ogunbowale didn’t help out much, as she was 2-of-9. Ogunbowale finished with 13 points (8.7 below her season average) and three assists. Natasha Howard was held to seven points.
LA won despite being outrebounded 38-29 and losing second-chance points 18-2. It won the turnover margin by seven, field goal percentage 51.6 to 36.2 and fast break points 14-3. It won 3-point percentage 42.9 to 19 with three more makes than Dallas.
The Wings were perfect at the stripe but on just seven attempts. LA was 9-of-16.
Tuesday action
Indiana Fever (3-6) over Washington Mystics (5-4), 87-66
This marked the Fever’s largest margin of victory since winning by 28 on September 8, 2019. Aliyah Boston followed up a quiet performance in a loss to the Mercury with 23 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and a career-high six assists. The point total was two off her career high; she was 11-of-14 from the field.
For the first time in her young WNBA career, Boston can say she carried her team to victory, and it was a dominant one at that.
After 29 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the loss to Phoenix, NaLyssa Smith had just eight points, three rebounds and one assist.
Indiana dominated the glass 46-27, field goal percentage 47.1 to 33.3, points in the paint 40-18 and second-chance points 17-4.
Kelsey Mithcell added 19 points to the winning cause while Queen Egbo had eight points and 10 boards. Elena Delle Donne had 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks in defeat.
2⃣5⃣8⃣1⃣ career points!
tonight Kelsey Mitchell surpassed Katie Douglas as the second leading scorer in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/vCXv5M7Obs
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) June 14, 2023
Seattle Storm (2-6) over Phoenix Mercury (2-6), 83-69
Brittney Griner played just 9:21 in this game due to a hip injury. She is now listed as day-to-day.
Diana Taurasi was held to zero points. That has only happened five times in the WNBA. She was 0-of-6 from the field, 0-of-4 from three and 0-of-0 from the stripe. She also had zero rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block in 22:39.
Jordan Horston posted 13 points and 14 boards for the Storm while Sami Whitcomb was 6-of-10 from downtown for 18 points to go along with three helpers and four swipes. Jewell Loyd and Ivana Dojkic added 17 and 14 points, respectively; both had four assists and two steals.
Sug Sutton registered 15 points, six rebounds and four helpers in defeat. Sophie Cunningham tried to help her out with 21 points.
Seattle led by as much as 21 and Phoenix never led. The Storm made six more threes than the Mercury.