Sparks hold on to beat Mercury 99-94

Los Angeles Sparks #30 Nneka Ogwumike (F) shooting a jump shot over the Phoenix Mercury #27 Brianna Turner (F) at the Crypto.com Arena. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Nneka Ogwumike scored 23-points, Liz Cambage 21-points, Katie Lou Samuelson 17-points, and Chennedy Carter 12-points off the bench helped the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Phoenix Mercury 99-94 at the Crypto.com Arena.

Skylar Diggins-Smith led Phoenix in scoring with 28-points, followed by Tina Charles with 21-points and Diamond DeShields with 17-points.

The Sparks, with eight new players on the team, are trying to figure out how to close out teams during the final stretch of games.

"We have new faces on the team, and being on the road, we don't get to practice, and we are still learning each other on offense and defense, Nneka Ogwumike said."

The Sparks trail 5-4 after a reverse layup by Jordin Canada. Lexi Brown tied the game 7-7 with her three-point shot. The Mercury led 13-9 with a layup by Diamond DeShields.

Phoenix Mercury #4 Skylar Diggins-Smith (G) reverse layup against the Los Angeles Sparks #33 Katie Lou Samuelson at the Crypto.com Arena. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

Tina Charles gave the Mercury an 18-9 lead. The Sparks trail by two points, 18-16, with a three-pointer by Chennedy Carter coming off the bench. Brown tied the game again 20-20 with a layup.

The game was tied 22-22 at the end of the first quarter after Carter's layup. The Sparks led 24-22 in the second quarter with a bank shot by Nneka Ogwumike.

The Sparks led 31-25 with a jump shot by Liz Cambage. Skylar Diggins-Smith's floater had the Mecury trailing 36-29. Diana Taurasi made a three-point shot, and Phoenix trailed 39-36.

The Mercury called a time-out after Katie Lou Samuelson's three-pointer with 4:00 minutes left in the second quarter.

The Sparks led 49-41 with another layup by Carter. Phoenix trailed by thirteen points,54-41 after Ogwumike made a three-point shot. DeShields' three-pointer had the Mercury trailing at halftime, 56-45.

The Sparks were leading in the third quarter 58-45 after a jump shot by Nneka Ogwumike. Tina Charles' jump shot made the score 58-50.

Los Angeles Sparks #7 Chennedy Carter (G) driving layup against the Phoenix Mercury #1 Diamond DeShields (F) at the Crypto.com Arena. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

Liz Cambage's layup had the Sparks leading 65-54. Diggins-Smith would make a layup as Phoenix trailed 65-58 with 6:12 left in the third quarter.

Chiney Ogwumike's layup gave the Sparks a 75-66 lead. Phoenix was trailing 78-70 with two free throws by Megan Gustafson. The Sparks led 80-70 at the end of the third quarter.

Katie Lou Samuelson's three-pointer gave the Sparks an 85-75 lead in the fourth quarter. Canada would make a three-point shot as the Sparks led 87-77.

Brianna Turner's layup had Phoenix trailing 87-81 with 5:52 left in the game. Cambage backed down Tina Charles in the paint and went up for a jump shot, as the Sparks now led 91-81.

Nneka Ogwumike gave the Sparks some more breathing room with her layup making the score 95-83. DeShields' jump shot had the Mercury trailing 97-88 with 2:29 left in the game.

The Mercury trailed 97-93 with 1:22 left in the game. Taurasi made one free throw making the score 97-94.

Canada was fouled and made one free throw to give the Sparks a 98-94 lead with 16.2 seconds left in the game. Nneka Ogwumike made one free throw at the end of the game, giving the Sparks a 99-94 win over the Mercury.

With the win, the Sparks record is (3-5) and the Mercury fell to (2-5). The Sparks' next home game will be on Tuesday, May 25 against the Dallas Wings at 7:30 PM.