The fourth quarter settled it
Los Angeles carried a three-point lead into the final quarter on Saturday night in Washington. Twelve minutes later the Sparks had put up 12 points and lost by 10.
The Mystics outscored them 25-12 over that stretch. Washington shot 9 of 14 from the floor in the period. Los Angeles went 3 of 12 and coughed up six turnovers. Once that run started, nothing that happened before it mattered much.
Sonia Citron finished with 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds, burying 4 of her 5 attempts from behind the arc. Kiki Iriafen added 19 points and eight rebounds, 14 of those points arriving before the break. Shakira Austin posted 17 points and 11 rebounds and kept finding room inside when the game tightened.
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Washington keep climbing
The 80-70 win moves the Mystics to 20-14, an eighth victory in their past 10 games. They built it close to the rim: 60 points in the paint and a 43-27 edge on the glass. Washington shot 47.2 percent overall while going 4 of 21 from three, which tells you exactly where the offence lived.
Back-to-back scores from Austin and Citron pushed the lead to five with 3:44 left. Rae Burrell answered with a three-point play, Citron replied with a triple, and Cassandre Prospect’s two free throws at 2:29 stretched it to seven. Austin closed it out with a layup and two more from the line, and Washington were up 10 with 38.7 seconds to play.
The Sparks keep sliding
Burrell led Los Angeles with 20 points. Nneka Ogwumike added 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Dearica Hamby had 11 points and three steals before fouling out. None of it held. The Sparks dropped to 12-22, a fourth straight defeat and an 11th in 13 games.
Cameron Brink sat out with a rib injury picked up in Thursday’s loss to the New York Liberty. Los Angeles shot 39.3 percent and went 9 of 26 from deep. They had led 58-51 late in the third after Erica Wheeler and Burrell opened the period with back-to-back triples and the visitors ripped off 13 of 15 points. That was their last good stretch of the night.
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