Four starters scored in double figures, but it still wasn’t enough. The Sparks had a historic night, grabbing her 341st rebound to break Lisa Leslie’s single-season franchise record set 20 years ago and move into the Sparks’ top 10 all-time rebounding list.
The Sparks outrebounded the Seattle Storm, outscored them in the paint and outscored them in second-chance points, but it wasn’t enough, and the Sparks lost 90-82 on Wednesday in their penultimate home game of the season.
The Sparks entered the fourth quarter trailing by six points, their largest margin of the night, and had a bad habit of letting the points snowball all season, but it looked like they finally had the answer when a reverse layup capped an 8-0 run to start the final period and put the Sparks back in the lead for the first time since before halftime.
Both teams traded points over the next few minutes, but Sami Whitcomb’s corner 3-pointer put Seattle up 75-72 with under six minutes left in the game. The Sparks got within one, but a fadeaway shot by Skylar Diggins-Smith and a Crystal Dangerfield turnover led to a fast-break layup by former Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike late in the game to extend the Storm lead to five points with under two minutes left in the game.
Ray Burrell missed two free throws with 90 seconds left, ending any hopes of a comeback for the Sparks.
The Sparks (7-30) will play a rematch against Seattle (22-14) on Sunday before returning to Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday for their home finale against the Phoenix Mercury.
