LOS ANGELES – The Sparks entered today’s game riding a four-game losing streak, but were able to bounce back, defeating the Las Vegas Aces 86-74. With the victory tonight, the Sparks snapped their longest losing streak since the 2015 season, where they dropped seven in a row. The win improves the Sparks record to 5-6 while the Aces fell to 6-5.

The Sparks came into tonight’s game looking to right the ship after losing four-straight, including two at home against the New York Liberty and Washington Mystics. Los Angeles was averaging 69.5 points over the last four games, while opponents were averaging 86.3. The Sparks 86 points were their most points in a game since June 15th against the New York Liberty.

Los Angeles had a balanced scoring attack in tonight’s contest with four Sparks players scoring in double digits. Guards Riquna Williams and Chelsea Gray each had 18 points respectively, with Gray scoring 10 points in the first half. Williams had nine points in the fourth quarter.  Gray, who was averaging 13.9 points coming into tonight’s game, shot 47.1% en route to her 18-point outburst. Candace Parker also scored 18 points in the game, which marked her season high in points.

The second half was the Riquna Williams show, where she scored 14 of her 18 points. Williams shot 50% from behind the arc, while playing the most on the Sparks roster, totaling nearly 36 minutes of game time. Her 18 points is her most since her 25-point performance in Minnesota against the Lynx on June 8th.

A combination of stellar Sparks defense and poor shooting from the field saw the Aces, the second-best scoring team in the WNBA, only score 74 on the night. Leading scorers for the Aces were Liz Cambage and A’ja Wilson, who combined for 31 points.

The Sparks registered eight offensive rebounds tonight and Chiney Ogwumike led all Sparks players with 10 rebounds. The Sparks totaled 31 defensive rebounds, a season high for the team.

The scoring began with five quick Las Vegas points, before Chelsea Gray lofted a pass over the 6’8” Cambage to find Chiney Ogwumike for a contested left-handed layup. Rookie Kalani Brown scored four points in the first quarter, including a cutting layup off of a Gray bounce pass.  Gray got in on the scoring action, hitting a fadeaway jumper with 12 seconds left in the first quarter, giving Los Angeles its first lead of the game, before watching the lead vanish after a Carolyn Swords jump shot as time expired.

The second quarter got started with a Gray and-one layup, followed by a Candace Parker right handed layup that got the crowd on their feet. Los Angeles went on a 17-8 scoring run, including a 9-0 stretch in the middle of the quarter. Defense was a key factor to start the second quarter, as reigning Defensive Player of the Year Alana Beard recorded two steals in the first two and a half minutes of the quarter. Brown continued her powerful post play, scoring a layup as time expired in the second quarter, to give the Sparks a six-point lead into halftime.

The Sparks picked up right where they left off, with Tierra Ruffin-Pratt hitting two three pointers, one from the corner for her first points of the game. With the two 3-pointers in the third quarter, Ruffin-Pratt continued her hot 3-point shooting. She is now 5-for-6 from behind the arc over the last two games. The quarter ended with yet another buzzer beating shot, this time Williams was the benefactor beating the Aces down the court and hitting a contested jumper to extended the Sparks’ lead to 13.

Williams started off the fourth quarter with a fast-break three pointer, her first of the day. The dynamic rookie duo of Brown and Marina Mabrey connected on bounce pass from Brown which resulted in a layup for Mabrey. The lead ballooned to 18 points midway through the fourth quarter. Williams hit two clutch shots during crunch time, only before Parker knocked down a 3-pointer with one minute remaining to ice the game.

The game was not only a step in the right direction for the Sparks, but also a milestone and career-high riddled game. Sparks veterans Beard and Parker moved up the all-time leaderboards tonight, while Kalani Brown achieved her career high in points and total free throws made.

With the first steal of the second quarter, Beard became the third player in WNBA history to hit 700 career assists, joining Tamika Catchings and Ticha Penicheiro as the only women in the league’s history to achieve the milestone.

Joining Beard in milestones was forward Candace Parker, who became the third Sparks player to register 400 steals in a Sparks uniform, joining Sparks greats Lisa Leslie and Delisha Milton-Jones as the only members of the Sparks to eclipse the 400 steals mark. Parker also passed Milton-Jones in total rebounds for the Sparks, putting her 9th all-time.

In addition to Beard and Parker’s stellar defensive play, the night also marked a career-high in points for Brown, who scored 12 points in tonight’s matchup, having tied her career-high in points of six in the first half alone. Her dominant post game, which was on display tonight against an MVP-caliber opponent in Cambage, is one of the biggest reasons why the Sparks used the seventh overall in April’s draft to select the All-American out of Baylor.

The Sparks look to build momentum off this victory, looking to go 3-2 at home to begin the season.