The Los Angeles Sparks overcame an 11-point second half deficit to defeat the New York Liberty on the road, 86-83. The Sparks were led by Erica Wheeler’s 17 points and 5 assists and Nneka Ogwumike’s 16 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

The Sparks played a tight first quarter. Nneka Ogwumike, playing in her 4th straight game after being injured, came in strong with a 25-foot three-point jumper to start the game. She’d score 7 points in the first 2 minutes of the 1st quarter. LA’s Kristi Toliver hit a milestone of 400 career three pointers, also scoring a quick seven points to give the Sparks a 14-5 lead. The Sparks used a sharpshooting first quarter to take a 25-18 lead. Chiney Ogwumike saw her first action since May 28 against the Chicago Sky.

After going up 32-23, the Liberty went on a 3-point barrage led by Rebecca Allen, Sami Whitcomb and Natasha Howard. They rattled off an 11-0 run to take a 34-32 lead. The Liberty shot 10-for-18 in the first half on triples to build a 45-37 lead at the break. Allen hit three 3’s off the bench and Natasha Howard hit two of her own to score 13 points and grab 8 rebounds in the first half. Ogwumike and Toliver combined for 21 points in the first half.

The Sparks came out of the break focused and ripped off a 6-0 run to cut the Liberty lead to 45-44. New York’s 3-point prowess continued as Sabrina Ionescu, Whitcomb and Allen continued to drain 3’s and gave the Liberty a 72-61 lead, their largest of the game. The Liberty nailed five triples in the third quarter on 10 attempts. The Sparks responded though as a Nia Coffey 3-pointer and a Chiney Ogwumike runner helped the Sparks close the gap to 72-66 heading into the fourth quarter.

C. Ogwumike continued the Sparks run with a layup to open the fourth quarter and a Coffey layup off a Wheeler steal forced a Liberty timeout at 72-70 New York with 8:54 remaining. A Wheeler runner tied the game at 72-72. A Cooper triple gave the Sparks a 75-72 lead, their first lead since the first quarter. Two free throws from Betnijah Laney off a C. Ogwumike flagrant foul and a Whitcomb three gave the Liberty a 77-75 lead before Cooper responded with a layup to tie the game at 77-77.

A Nneka steal and transition layup put the Sparks up 79-77 and Wheeler followed with a layup to put the Sparks up 81-77. Wheeler gave the Sparks an 83-79 lead but the Liberty were in the bonus and used free throws to close to 83-81 Sparks. Brittney Sykes got a steal with 20 seconds remaining and got fouled going to the basket. She’d hit both free throws to go up 85-81. After Michaela Onyenwere hit two free throws to pull the Liberty to within 85-83, Toliver made 1-of-2 from the line to put the Sparks up 86-83. On the last play of the game, Brittney Sykes emphatically swatted a last-second attempt by Ionescu to tie the game.

With the win, the Sparks currently sit in 8th place in the WNBA standings.

The Los Angeles Sparks will travel tonight to Washington to face the Mystics on Tuesday, Aug. 24 at 4:00 p.m. PT as part of a 6-game road trip.