Despite shooting 50% from the field and tying their season low with eight turnovers, the Sparks fell 95-86 to the Mystics on Sunday.

In her 33rd appearance of the season, Kelsey Plum tied the WNBA record for most games in a season with at least 20 points and five assists, notching her 18th such performance to match Caitlin Clark's mark set last year (40 games). The four-time All-Star also tied Kristi Toliver for the Sparks' single-season record for made 3-pointers.

Plum finished with 25 points (10-for-15 FG, 2-for-5 3PT), six assists and three steals, recording her second-straight multi-steal outing and 12th of the season. It also marked her fifth game this year with three or more steals.

Hamby paced Los Angeles with 26 points on 12 of 17 shooting, also tallying seven assists. With a steal in the contest, the 11th-year forward moved into sole possession of 10th place on the Sparks' all-time steals list, passing Brittney Sykes.

Rickea Jackson added 17 points, connecting on 42.9% of her attempts from deep, while contributing one block and one steal in 38 minutes of action. Rae Burrell provided a spark off the bench with 10 points, two assists and one steal.

The Sparks scored 46 of their 86 points in the paint and continue to lead the league with 40.9 points per game inside. Los Angeles also converted 25 points off of Washington's 18 turnovers.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:

Head Coach Lynne Roberts

On Dearica Hamby & Kelsey Plum stepping up: 

“[Dearica Hamby and Kelsey Plum] are our two leaders. I thought they were great. KP did a great job getting to the bucket there to get us going. She was not going to be denied. Dearica did a really good job on their ball screen coverage rolling, and we found her, and she was tough going to the basket. KP & D have been this way all season, you know? They've led us when it's hard. Tonight was hard, and you have to give credit to Washington. I thought they played well, they executed well. It took us that first half to really get going. So that's disappointing, but we gotta move on.”

On what the Sparks can learn from this loss with 10 games remaining: 

“The message we learned today is we can't come out and think it's going to be easy. I thought in the first half, they were anticipating more than we were. They were executing better than we were. They were rebounding better than we were. They had 35 rebounds. We had 15. That's a direct correlation to effort. [We have to] come out with the intensity it takes, especially to win on the road. We can't panic or think that the sky is falling and we've had tough losses before, and we've always bounced back. So I believe in this group and trust them, and these two sitting next to me are as reliable as they come. And when your best players are like that, then you have every reason to be confident. So we've got to regroup. We have a couple days off to practice, which is amazing. We'll be fine.”

Kelsey Plum

On playing seven games in 13 days: 

“Some things l've learned in this league is [whether it’s] two days, one day or six days [of rest], no one feels bad for anyone. So, it doesn't matter, at the end of the day, you gotta show up and play basketball.” 

What’s Next?: 

The Sparks open a four-game homestand on Aug. 20 (7 p.m. PT) with a rematch against the Dallas Wings. The stretch continues with the Mercury Aug. 26 (7 p.m. PT), Fever Aug. 29 (7 p.m. PT) and Mystics Aug. 31 (5 p.m. PT).