LOS ANGELES — On the day she was named a WNBA All-Star starter for the second consecutive season, Nneka Ogwumike had a season-high 27 points and 12 rebounds and the Sparks rallied from down 11 points late in the third quarter to beat the Dallas Wings, 93-83, on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
It was Ogwumike’s seventh double-double in the 13 games she has played this season.
The Sparks finished with four players in double figures as forward Dearica Hamby had 17 points, Karlie Samuelson 14 points and Jordin Canada 10 points and nine assists.
The Sparks improved to 7-7 and won their third consecutive game against Dallas, clinching the season series.
Dallas (6-8) was led by guard Arike Ogunbowale who finished with 18 points and eight assists, while Crystal Dangerfield had 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Teaira McCowan finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Natasha Howard had 13 points.
After being down by seven points early in the game, the Sparks seized control with a 13-0 run in the final 2:26 in the first quarter and took a 26-18 lead into the second.
With Hamby’s free throw, the Sparks extended their lead to 12 points, 33-21, with 7:52 left in the second quarter. However, Dallas found success playing two 6-foot-7 post players Kalani Brown and McCowan in the game at the same time. Dallas went on a 10-0 run to pull with 33-31, and later tied the game at 36 on a layup by Ogunbowale with 3:56 to go before halftime.
A corner three by forward Karlie Samuelson gave the Sparks a 39-36 advantage with with 3:47 to go in the first half. The Wings took their first lead of the second quarter, 42-41 on a putback by McCowan with 1:48 to go.
Ogwumike found herself in a one-on-one isolation situation and pulled off a nifty up-and-under move to tie the game at 44 with less than five seconds to go before halftime.
After a back-and-forth start to the second, an and-one and a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions by Dallas point guard Crystal…
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