Sparks go cold in 4th quarter against Sun

HARTFORD, Conn. — Aneesah Morrow had 17 points and 14 rebounds, her fourth consecutive game with a double-double, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Los Angeles Sparks 84-81 on Saturday night at PeoplesBank Arena.

Morrow leads the WNBA with seven double-doubles this season.

Kennedy Burke scored 14 points for the Sun. Leila Lacan, who made her season debut, and Diamond Miller added 12 points apiece.

Connecticut (2-8) had lost three in a row, all by double figures. The Sun tied their season high with 11 steals.

Ariel Atkins and Rae Burrell led the Sparks (4-4) with 16 points apiece, Erica Wheeler scored 13 and Dearica Hamby 11. Ogwumike finished with 12 points and three rebounds.

Wheeler made a layup 27 seconds into the fourth quarter and the Sparks didn’t make another field goal until she made another layup with 3:38 to play. Nneka Ogwumike followed with a three-point play and Atkins hit two free throws to make it a three-point game less than a minute later.

Burrell’s 3-pointer made it 81-79 with 52 seconds lefts, but the Sparks got no closer.

Ogwumike has 3,315 career rebounds to move into a tie with Tamika Catchings for fifth on the WNBA’s career list.

Connecticut’s Brittney Griner (rib injury) returned from a four-game absence but left the game for good late in the first half after she was apparently poked in the eye. She finished with nine points.

Lacan helped Basket Landes to a championship, and was named finals MVP, in the top French professional league earlier this month. She averaged 10.4 points, 3.7 assists and 2.2 steals as a rookie last season in 25 games for Connecticut and the Sun were 2-17 before the point guard returned from international duty and went 9-16 after.

Kelsey Plum (ankle) missed her second consecutive game for the Sparks. Plum, the WNBA’s leading scorer at 28.6 points per game, will be re-evaluated on Tuesday.

Up next

Sparks: Host Las Vegas on Tuesday.