DALLAS -- The Sparks have the Wings' number.
It was a game of runs. The Sparks scored 11 unanswered in the first half while the Wings also had an 11-0 run in the second half. But in the end, the Sparks (6-17) scored eight straight points to hold off the Wings (5-19), 87-81, to get their second road win of the season.
Dearica Hamby and Rickea Jackson scored a combined 50 points as they gave the Wings defense fits all game. Azura Stevens also filled up the stat sheet with 16 points and eight rebounds to go along with four assists, three blocks and four steals.
Hamby talked about the importance of having Stevens back in the line-up.
"Thank you to Azura for getting back and getting healthy," Hamby said. "Because I've had to guard the toughest match-up since (Cameron Brink) has gone down. It was nice to, not to take possessions off, but to be able to not beat myself up so much trying to guard (Kalani Brown) and (Teaira McCowan) so shoutout to her for that."
Jackson also talked about Stevens' three-point shooting that helped the Sparks out. Stevens made all four of her three-pointers.
"I felt like she just stretches the floor," Jackson said. "You can't just sag off of her. I feel she's versatile and she's quick off the dribble so you have to play her honest. Whether she puts it on the floor or shoots a three so she can do either or. So you gotta pick and choose your poison with so that just opens up the floor so much for us."
Coach Curt Miller talked about holding Arike Ogunbowale to 2-for-15 shooting and 12 points.
"It's hard to shut down Arike. She's gonna get her points," Miller said. "What we hope is to find some inefficiency to try to have her take a lot of attempts to get her points."
Arike Ogunbowale has taken 73 shots to get to 54 points total in three games against the Sparks.
"We've had a really good three-game series against Arike and our guards should take pride in that. She is an elite elite scorer and player," Miller summarized.
The Sparks wanted to keep their turnovers down after their disastrous game against the Lynx on Tuesday and they did well in that department as they committed only 12 giveaways; Dallas had 16 turnovers. Los Angeles also shot .500 from the field compared to .437 by Dallas. The Sparks have beaten the Wings for the second time this season.
Dearica Hamby led the Sparks with 27 points while Rickea Jackson scored a career-best 23 points. As for the Wings, Odyssey Sims put in 23 while Natasha Howard had 14.
The Sparks wrap up the first half of the season with a home game against the Seattle Storm on Tuesday. It'll also be Nneka Ogwumike's first game back in Los Angeles since leaving the Sparks in free agency. After that, the Sparks and the WNBA go into the All-Star and then Olympic break where the teams get a much-needed rest from a crunched schedule.