To end their road trip, the Sparks showed they could compete with one of the WNBA’s hottest teams. They just couldn’t finish.
After falling behind by 10 in the opening quarter, Los Angeles fought all the way back to briefly take the lead in the third before the Dallas Wings responded behind Paige Bueckers and closed out a 90-82 win Sunday afternoon at College Park Center. The loss was the Sparks’ fourth straight, while Dallas extended its winning streak to six games, its longest since 2016.
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First Quarter
Neither team looked comfortable early. The opening minutes were filled with turnovers before Dallas settled in first. The Wings’ defense sped up the Sparks’ offense, forcing mistakes that quickly turned into points on the other end.
Wings rookie Azzi Fudd wasted no time making an impact. She knocked down her first two three-pointers and came away with a pair of steals as Dallas built momentum.
Erica Wheeler answered with an aggressive drive to the basket, but the Sparks struggled to take care of the ball. A few careless possessions late in the quarter allowed the Wings to stretch the lead to double digits. Dallas led 27-17.
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Second Quarter
The Sparks finally started to find a rhythm coming into the second.
Jihyun Park opened the quarter with a layup before Wheeler took control offensively, attacking the paint whenever she saw an opening. Los Angeles also benefited from back-to-back offensive fouls by Dallas, giving the Sparks a chance to chip away.
Every time it looked like the momentum was shifting, though, the Wings did not let up. Paige Bueckers converted an and-one, Maddie Siegrist buried a three and Dallas continued to hold off every Sparks run.
Chance Gray gave Los Angeles a lift off the bench with a three-pointer, and Wheeler kept putting pressure on the defense to cut the deficit to six before halftime. The Sparks headed into the locker room trailing 46-40 behind Dallas, but it felt like they had finally settled into a consistent rhythm.
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Third Quarter
If there was a turning point, it came early in the third.
Dearica Hamby opened the scoring, and suddenly the Sparks were flying around defensively. Dallas turned the ball over five straight times during one stretch, and Los Angeles took full advantage, slowly erasing the deficit before grabbing its first lead of the afternoon.
Burrell was also everywhere. She attacked the rim, crashed the glass, and continued doing the little things that don’t always show up in the box score. Then Cameron Brink reminded everyone what the Sparks had been missing.
Playing in just her second game back, Brink came up with back-to-back blocks, denying Bueckers on one possession before swatting away an Odyssey Sims attempt moments later. Li Yueru added an and-one, and for the first time all game, it felt like the Sparks had complete control. Dallas regrouped before the quarter ended, though, taking a 68-63 lead into the fourth.
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Fourth Quarter
The Sparks kept making one last push as Nneka Ogwumike scored on a smooth hesitation move before Burrell knocked down a clutch three.
But whenever Los Angeles got close, Bueckers answered. Whether it was creating for teammates or knocking down big shots herself, the point guard looked completely in command during the final minutes.
The biggest scare came when Bueckers and Ogwumike collided while chasing a loose ball. Bueckers stayed down for several moments before walking off the floor with what looked like a concussion, but Dallas never lost its composure after play resumed.
A late three from Ariel Atkins gave the Sparks one more chance, but Jessica Shepard answered on the other end, and Hamby eventually fouled out as Dallas closed out the win.
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After the game, head coach Lynne Roberts admitted the frustration comes from knowing just how close her team has been.
“I think that’s the hard part,” Roberts said. “We feel like we’re so close. We weren’t able to get over the hump on this trip, but we have gotten better, even though the win-loss record doesn’t show it. We have to trust the process, trust each other, and just keep pushing.”
Ogwumike shared a similar message.
“I think getting any type of win will be good for us,” she said. “These games show the progress that we’re making. We just have to make those intangible plays that don’t always show up on the stat sheet if we want to turn these close games into wins.”
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The record won’t reflect it, but the Sparks continue to look more competitive than they did just a few weeks ago. They’ve gone toe-to-toe with some of the league’s top teams during this road trip. Now, with one game left before the All-Star break, they’ll have another chance to finally turn that progress into a win.
