Los Angeles Sparks lose a tough one against Sky

The Los Angeles Sparks collapsed in the fourth quarter, losing to the Chicago Sky at home.

A shaky fourth quarter became doom for the Sparks who lost 90-86, to the Chicago Sky Saturday afternoon.

Kia Nurse led the team in scoring contributing 16 points in the defeat. Crystal Dangerfield got her first start as a Spark and delivered with 11 points and six assists.

Dearica Hamby had a rough game offensively with seven points but she did grab nine rebounds and had five assists. She also accomplished a milestone with 500 career assists. Rickea Jackson had a great game, with 13 points, five rebounds and an assist in her 27 minutes of play.

Odyssey Sims, who joined the team on a seven-day hardship contract, had a rough offensive game but ended the night scoring two points, grabbing two rebounds and dishing out three dimes.

Los Angeles is now 6-20 on the season.

The Sparks started with much better energy and spirit, draining four of their first five buckets. They kept it up throughout the quarter, not letting the Sky gain momentum. Jackson was the one who took charge offensively for L.A. with five quick points.

Los Angeles took a two-point lead with 2:50 left in the first. Their offense continued to thrive, but the Sky managed to go up by one at the end of the quarter. LA started the second period slower but took the lead by one.

Both teams were evenly matched with their offense throughout this quarter. The Sparks worked hard on both ends of the floor and shot 50% from behind the arc, with Nurse making two of her first three attempts.

The Sparks led 46-42 at halftime.

L.A. continued their great play into the second half. Jackson, who had been thriving all game, had a steal that led to a layup and-1 play.

Los Angeles had done a great job on Angel Reese, who only had eight points through three quarters. As soon as the Sky inched closer, the Sparks kept having an answer. At the end of the third, L.A. was up by ten.

However, Chicago finally broke through going on a 7-0 run to start the third. Sims scored her first field goal, a layup, to help stop the momentum the Sky had created. Chicago continued to score inside the paint and took the lead while the Sparks went cold offensively.

A timely 3-pointer by Stephanie Talbot tied the game. The Sky continued applying pressure, including a steal from Lindsay Allen that led to a layup by Michaela Onyenwere.

The Sky took complete charge offensively all quarter and ran away with the win outscoring the Sparks 26-12 in the final frame.

Despite a strong three quarters of play, the Sparks failed to get the win they so desperately needed.

Key Takeaways:

A much better showing for the Sparks who had contributions from their entire starting lineup.

The bench production was not good, but again, they’re missing players, so it’s not surprising that the reserves struggled to score.

Rebounding is still a constant issue for this team. They were able to grab 11, but it wasn't enough.

The Sparks’ next game will be against the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday at 3:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.