Dearica Hamby sets Sparks’ single-season record for points in win over Lynx
MINNEAPOLIS — Dearica Hamby scored 20 points, Rickea Jackson added 19 and the last-place Sparks closed the WNBA season with a 68-51 win over the playoff-bound Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night.
The Sparks (8-32) ended an eight-game losing streak and stopped Minnesota’s seven-game winning streak. In addition, Hamby passed Nneka Ogwumike as the Sparks’ single-season points leader, finishing with 691 points.
The second-seeded Lynx (30-10) are home against seventh-seeded Phoenix in the best-of-three opening round on Sunday afternoon.
The Sparks have missed a huge moment. With no practice facility, the franchise has missed out on the explosion of interest in the WNBA.
Kia Nurse added 12 points for the Sparks.
Resting All-Star and Olympian Napheesa Collier and three-point sharpshooter Kayla McBride, the Lynx had their worst offensive output of the season.
No player reached double figures for the Lynx as they shot 28.6% (16 of 56) from the field and had 17 turnovers. Diamond Miller and Alissa Pili led the way with eight while Natisha Hiedeman had seven and Myisha Hines-Allen, Bridget Carleton, Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams all had six.
The Sparks took the lead early and kept it. They had a 16-point lead in the first half, but settled for a 38-30 advantage at the break.
It was 53-44 heading into the fourth quarter. Williams completed a four-point play with 7:39 remaining to pull Minnesota within 53-48 but L.A. scored the next 13 points for a 66-48 lead with under three minutes remaining. Nurse had three of her four three-pointers in the surge and Rae Burrell added another.
The Sparks went 2-14 after the Olympic break and will have the best odds in the WNBA draft lottery.
