Sparks home skids reach five following Sky comes back in the fourth quarter to claim victory by 90-86.
LOS ANGELES — — Lindsay Allen scored 16 points, Kamilla Cardoso and rookie Angel Reese posted double-doubles and the Chicago Sky rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Los Angeles 90-86 on Saturday and handed Los Angeles the Sparks their fifth loss in a row at home.
Chicago (11-15) had a 74-64 lead at the beginning of the final quarter, however, a rebound jumper by Allen along with an Rachel Banham 3-pointer halved the Sky’s lead just 60 seconds into. Cardoso added an easy layup while Chicago scored its initial seven points. Odyssey Sims answered with a layup for Los Angeles (6-20), however, Reese made a layup as well. Cardoso scored two points within the lane to hand the Sky the lead 77-76 with 6:35 to play.
Stephanie Talbot pulled the Sparks within 79 points with an impressive 3-pointer in the 4:43 point. Reese made one of two free shots in order to hand Chicago the lead. Michaela Onyenwere reacted with a layup, and the Sky never let up.
Allen scored 7 of 11 attempts from the ground for Chicago. She had six assists. Cardoso had 15 points, and added 14 rebounds. Reese scored the score of 14 and had 11 boards. Banham hit three 3-pointers and scored 14 points.
Kia Nurse scored 16 points to lead the Sparks who are averaging just one point in the last five games against the Sky. LA has dropped three games in a row overall. Rickea Jackson and Talbot added 13 points each. Crystal Dangerfield chipped in with 11 points and six assists. Azura Stevens scored ten points and six boards, and four assists.
The Sparks gained their first lead, 20-18, after a layup from Dearica Hamby with just 2:51 remaining at the beginning of quarter. Chennedy Carter scored back-toback baskets to end the run with a 6-0 score and help the Sky to take a 26-25 advantage after just one quarter.
Nurse scored 13 points at halftime. Her 3-pointer with 4:49 remaining in the second quarter made the Sparks ahead by 35-33. Nurse scored five consecutive free throws to give the Sparks an advantage of 43-38. Chicago came within one point twice however, Dangerfield made a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to make LA in front 46-42 by the time intermission rolled around.
Banham scored a three-pointer at the start of the third quarter for the Sky but Stevens responded with one of her own as the Sparks maintained their advantage. Dana Evans connected from beyond the arc to bring Chicago close to 66-64, with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter. Talbot made three layups during an 8-0 run, and LA had a 10-point lead in the last 10 minutes.