Candace Parker Leads Sparks Past Lynx, 77-69
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Candace Parker had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Chelsea Gray added 15 points to help the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Minnesota Lynx 77-69 on Sunday.
Odyssey Sims and Nneka Ogwumike added 12 points apiece for the Sparks (4-1).
The Lynx (2-5), who beat Los Angeles in the WNBA Finals last season, have lost four in a row for the first time since dropping five straight in the 2010 season. That was the year before Maya Moore was drafted by Minnesota.
Moore's 3-pointer gave Minnesota a one-point lead, but the Lynx went the next four-plus minutes without a field goal and Alana Beard's pull-up jumper sparked a 10-1 run that gave the Sparks a 52-44 advantage. Moore answered with a floater in the lane before Ogwumike and Sims made back-to-back baskets to push the lead into double figures and Minnesota trailed by at least eight points the rest of the way.
The Lynx shot just 25 percent (4 of 16) from the field in the third quarter. Moore finished with 18 points, including three 3-pointers, and Sylvia Fowles added 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
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