LOS ANGELES — Kristi Toliver scored 29 points and Candace Parker had 28 points and 13 rebounds as the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Minnesota Lynx 96-90 on Thursday.
Nneka Ogwumike added 12 points and Alana Beard had 10 for the Sparks (11-6), who led by 20 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter before weathering Minnesota's furious rally to snap a three-game losing streak. Toliver shot 8 for 13 from the field, including 6 for 6 on 3-pointers, and 6 for 7 on free throws. Parker also shot 8 for 13.
Seimone Augustus scored 18 points to lead the defending champion Lynx (13-3), who have lost two back-to-back games for the first time since June 24-26, 2011. Minnesota has also lost three straight on the road for the first time since August 2010.
Candice Wiggins had a 3 and Maya Moore made two to pull the Lynx to 84-78 with 2 1/2 minutes to go. However, Toliver and Parker made 10 free throws over the last 1:59 to seal the Sparks' win.
Moore finished with 14 points, Rebekkah Brunson scored 11 and Wiggins and Amber Harris added 10 each for Minnesota.
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The matchup between the top teams in the Western Conference appeared headed for a blowout until Minnesota staged a comeback. After Sykes' 3 put the Sparks ahead 82-63 with 6:54 remaining, Moore's 3 capped a 15-2 run that cut Minnesota's deficit to six nearly 4 1/2 minutes later.
Harris' three-point play pulled the Lynx to 90-85 with 27.1 seconds remaining, but Toliver made two free throws 1 second later. After Harris' layup with 8.4 remaining, Toliver made two more from the line. Harris had another three-point play with 2.3 to go to pull the Lynx within four, but Parker made two free throws with less than a second left to close the scoring.
The Sparks pulled away in the third quarter and led by 18 points twice, including a breakaway layup by Beard to stretch the lead to 75-57 going into the fourth quarter. Toliver made two free throws with 9:23 remaining to extend the advantage to 20.
Ogwumike and Beard scored the final six points of the first half to give the Sparks a 49-43 at halftime. Parker and Toliver scored 30 of the Sparks' first 34 points and Toliver made all five 3-point attempts in the first half.
Parker was a force in the first quarter. She scored 11 points and had three three-point play opportunities while Toliver also scored 11 points as Los Angeles ended the first quarter on a 13-2 run.
| MINNESOTA (90) |
|---|
Moore 5-13 1-1 14, Brunson 5-11 1-2 11, McWilliams-Franklin 2-9 0-0 4, Augustus 7-12 1-2 18, Whalen 4-9 0-0 8, Wright 4-9 1-1 9, Wiggins 3-9 2-4 10, Harris 3-7 3-5 10, Peters 1-1 0-2 2, Thorn 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 36-86 9-17 90.
| LOS ANGELES (96) |
|---|
Ogwumike 4-12 4-4 12, Milton-Jones 2-10 0-0 4, Parker 8-13 12-17 28, Beard 3-6 3-3 10, Toliver 8-13 7-8 29, Lavender 3-4 0-0 6, Coleman 0-5 2-2 2, Sykes 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 30-68 28-34 96.
| Minnesota | 21 | 22 | 14 | 33—90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 24 | 25 | 26 | 21—96 |
3-Point Goals_Minnesota 9-26 (Augustus 3-4, Moore 3-8, Wiggins 2-6, Harris 1-2, Wright 0-1, Whalen 0-2, Thorn 0-3), Los Angeles 8-16 (Toliver 6-6, Beard 1-2, Sykes 1-2, Coleman 0-2, Milton-Jones 0-2, Parker 0-2). Fouled Out_Moore. Rebounds_Minnesota 55 (Brunson, McWilliams-Franklin 9), Los Angeles 47 (Parker 13). Assists_Minnesota 24 (McWilliams-Franklin 6), Los Angeles 18 (Toliver 6). Total Fouls_Minnesota 24, Los Angeles 20. A_11,256 (12,947).
