WNBA Wrap: Los Angeles Sparks Rally Late To Stun Seattle Storm, Stay In Playoff Hunt

Dearica Hamby had 27 points and 11 rebounds, Rickea Jackson added 23 points and the Los Angeles Sparks closed on an 11-0 run to secure a key 91-85 victory over the Seattle Storm on Monday.

Skyler Diggins scored with 2:47 remaining to put Seattle up 85-80, only to see the lead slip away to the Sparks’ stunning rally. Hamby and Jackson scored nine of Los Angeles’ 11 points during the run.

Hamby was 13 for 18 from the field and also added three steals while helping the Sparks build a 60-30 advantage in points in the paint.

Kelsey Plum added 14 points and seven assists for the Sparks (19-20), who pulled to within 1 ½ games of the Storm (22-20) for the final playoff spot.

The Storm’s two remaining games are both at home but are against the playoff-bound New York Liberty and the Golden State Valkyries.

The Sparks will play two road games against a strong Atlanta Dream team before hosting the lowly Dallas Wings in their regular-season finale.

Seattle, which led by as much as 17 on Monday, was paced by Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike, who each scored 21 points.

Ezi Magbegor contributed 11 points, five rebounds and six assists in the losing effort.

Late run helps Dream pull away to beat Sun

The Connecticut Sun had Atlanta on its heels midway through the fourth quarter, but that’s when Rhyne Howard, Jordin Canada and Naz Hillmon took over to lead the Dream to a 93-76 win.

Clinging to a 76-74 lead with five minutes remaining, Atlanta proceeded to score the next 17 points to put the game away.

Howard and Canada each scored six points during the decisive run, with Hillmon contributing the other five. Howard finished the game with 23 points, Hillmon and Allisha Gray scored 17 apiece, while Canada added 15.

With the victory, the Dream improved to 26-14 to move into a second-place tie with the Las Vegas Aces. The Aces, however, won all three head-to-head meetings in the season series.

Atlanta, though, still has two of its remaining four games against the lowly Sun (10-30).

Tina Charles had team-highs of 22 points and eight rebounds for Connecticut, which after pulling within two points halfway through the fourth period, then went 0 for 4 with four turnovers before Aaliyah Edwards’ meaningless layup with 45 seconds remaining.

Collier, Lynx cruise by Bueckers, Wings

Napheesa Collier scored an efficient 25 points, Natisha Hiedeman had 20 points and 10 assists, and the Minnesota Lynx rolled to a 96-71 win over the Dallas Wings.

Collier, the WNBA’s leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, needed just 23 minutes to get to 25 points, going 7 for 10 from the field and 4 of 4 from 3-point range.

Minnesota (32-8) shot 58.3 percent from 3-point range, with Hiedeman and Bridget Carleton each knocking down four apiece.

Rookie Paige Bueckers scored a team-high 17 points for Dallas (9-32) on 7-of-14 shooting.

Amy Okonkwo, Maddy Siegrist and Diamond Miller each chipped in 12 points for the Wings.