A couple hours after it was announced she would be a 2023 WNBA All-Star Game starter, Nneka Ogwumike had 27 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks and her Los Angeles Sparks went on a 12-2 run to lead 90-81 with 51 seconds remaining, leading to a less-nerve-racking 93-83 win over the Dallas Wings Sunday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The Sparks had beaten the Wings 76-74 when Dallas missed a shot to tie at the very end of Friday’s contest. Sunday’s win broke the tie between the Wings and Sparks and put the Sparks, now 7-7, alone in fifth place in the WNBA.
A Dearica Hamby layup that made it 80-79 LA with 5:21 remaining gave the Sparks the lead for good. N. Ogwumike later went on a 4-0 individual run that made it 88-81.
The Sparks were down by as much as 17 on Friday; they were down 11 with 1:56 left in the third on Sunday. They went on a 9-0 run to cut it to 71-69. Destanni Henderson, one of the heroes of Friday’s game and a feel-good story as a hardship contract player, hit a left-wing three and Karlie Samuelson followed that with a transition three before N. Ogwumike scored a transition layup off a Henderson block and made the awarded free throw for a 3-point play.
Jordin Canada aided the winning cause with 10 points and nine…
