LOS ANGELES—Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 17 points and Myisha Hines-Allen added 16 to help the Washington Mystics rally for an 82–80 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night.
Julie Vanloo scored 15 points on five 3-pointers, Ariel Atkins had 12 points, and Stefanie Dolson contributed 10 points and eight rebounds for the Mystics (5–15).
Stephanie Talbot had 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and Aari McDonald registered 17 points and six assists for Los Angeles (4–15), which dropped its eighth consecutive game. Dearica Hamby, named earlier in the day to participate in the upcoming WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, added 16 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists for her 12th double-double of the campaign.
Rookie Rickea Jackson added 12 points for the Sparks, who made 46.7 percent of their field goal attempts and were 13 of 30 from 3-point range.
Washington shot 47.8 percent, including 12 of 26 from beyond the arc, while snapping a two-game losing streak.
The Mystics trailed 64–52 after three quarters before dominating the final 10 minutes. Hamby scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to give the Sparks a game-best 14-point lead before the Mystics outscored Los Angeles 30–11 over the next nine-plus minutes.
Washington ran off 14 straight points to knot the score at 66. Jade Melbourne made two free throws with 6:54 remaining—her team’s first attempts from the line—to bring the Mystics within two, and then added a layup with 5:44 left.
Washington moved ahead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game as Walker-Kimbrough drained a 3-pointer to give the Mystics a 75–74 lead with 2:55 remaining. Kia Nurse connected on a 3-pointer 18 seconds later to put the Sparks back ahead. Then Atkins answered with a basket to tie it at 77 with 2:24 to go.
Dolson converted a three-point play with 1:18 left to give Washington an 80–77 lead. Los Angeles later sabotaged itself with two turnovers with less than 20 seconds left—one on a steal by Walker-Kimbrough, the other an illegal screen foul called on Talbot—as the Mystics closed it out.
Talbot scored 12 first-half points as Los Angeles led 43–38 at the break. Hines-Allen had 10 points in the half for the Mystics.
The Sparks scored the first eight points of the third quarter to take a 13-point advantage. Washington was within six later in the period before Los Angeles increased the lead to 12 entering the final stanza.
