LOS ANGELES — Nneka Ogwumike scored a season-high 29 points, and Candace Parker had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists as the Sparks beat the Connecticut Sun, 87-77, on Thursday night at Staples Center.
The Sparks trailed by 14 points after the first quarter, but outscored the Sun 51-25 over the next two quarters. Chelsea Gray’s back-to-back 3-pointers highlighted the Sparks’ 20-6 run to close the half for a 46-45 lead, and Ogwumike’s three-point play capped a 9-3 run to open the third.
Gray made four 3-pointers and scored 17 points for the Sparks (13-5), who had lost two in a row. Alana Beard had two steals to move past DeLisha Milton-Jones for fifth in WNBA history with 620.
Jonquel Jones scored 20 points and Jasmine Thomas added 14 for Connecticut (11-8), which lost for the first time in six games.