LOS ANGELES — The Sparks were looking to achieve an important milestone before this weekend’s WNBA All-Star break – win two games in a row for the first time this season.
Dearica Hamby’s inspired play, which included scoring 10 straight points to close the second quarter, helped lead the Sparks to a 99-80 victory over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Hamby scored 18 of her game-high 26 points before halftime in the final game before the All-Star break for both teams. Rickea Jackson scored 22 points, Kelsey Plum had 20 points and six assists and Azurá Stevens added 15 points and eight rebounds. The quartet combined for 83 of the Sparks’ season-high 99 points.
“When we’re aggressive from the jump, we’re really good,” Jackson said.
The Sparks (8-14), who outscored Washington 33-12 in the second quarter, closed the first half on a 17-2 run over the final four minutes to reach their most points scored in any half this season at 59. Hamby’s 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer gave them a 25-point lead.
“I think we’re starting to figure it out,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said after the game. “Also, getting players healthy helps, getting who we designed everything for.”
They finished the night with a season-high 58 points in the paint.
The Sparks have already matched last season’s win total, when they went a league-worst 8-32 and missed the playoffs for a franchise-record fourth consecutive year.
“We just have to keep our foot on the gas as a group and continue to improve,” Roberts said.
Shakira Austin had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Washington (11-11), which saw its three-game win streak end. Sug Sutton added 14 points and Aaliyah Edwards scored 13. Former Sparks guard Brittney Sykes, Washington’s leading scorer (17.6 ppg), was held to eight points on 2-of-7 shooting.
The Sparks led 26-22 at the end of the first quarter with Plum, Hamby, Jackson and Stevens scoring all of the team’s points in the opening 10 minutes.
A Julie Allemand 3-pointer with 9:46 left in the second quarter was the first basket by another Spark and it gave her team a 29-22 lead. Allemand finished with 10 assists and just one turnover. Rookie forward Sania Feagin’s layup, the team’s first points off the bench, made it 31-24.
Jackson’s three-point play extended the Sparks’ advantage to 49-34 with 2:54 left in the first half, then Hamby’s 10-point run of a fast-break layup, a 3-pointer, a pair of made free throws and then her buzzer-beating 3-pointer made it 59-34 at halftime.
“You saw how bad we wanted this one,” Roberts shared. “It’s been a tough first part of the season. It feels really good to play two games in a row and play well, and to get a winning streak going and protect our home court but it certainly does make the break a little more fun.”
The Mystics scored 12 points in the opening four minutes of the third quarter, but the Sparks maintained their double-digit lead for the entire second half.
Hamby shot 10 for 19 from the floor, while Jackson shot 9 for 13 as the Sparks shot 53.5% as a team.
“But just remembering how these feelings feel, winning building off of that, playing super collectively,” Plum said. “I thought (Tuesday night) was our best, I know the numbers back it up in terms of our pace and the way we shared the ball, the way it moved. We got great shots.”
Sparks forward Cameron Brink missed the game as she continues to recover a season-ending knee injury, that she suffered midway through her rookie season in June 2024. Roberts said she is hopeful Brink will return by the end of the month.
“I feel like I’m still learning the best rotation right now with the 10 that we have,” explained Roberts, who is at the midway point of her first season coaching in the WNBA.
UP NEXT
The Sparks will play at Washington next Tuesday (July 22). … Plum, the team’s lone All-Star, will participate in the 3-point contest on Friday and Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis.
LA Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts on Washington Mystics rookie forward Kiki Iriafen, the Sparks dynamic duo of Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby, Rae Burrell’s impact and trying to win two games in a row and match the team’s season win total of 8 game from the 2024 WNBA season. pic.twitter.com/Ia8vC6HIEC
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) July 16, 2025
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