LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nneka Ogwumike had 23 points and nine rebounds, Liz Cambage added 19 points and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Phoenix Mercury 78-75 on Monday night.
Los Angeles (10-11) has won three straight, including an 84-74 victory over New York on Sunday.
Jordin Canada made two free throws with 35.3 seconds left to give Los Angeles a two-possession lead. Diana Taurasi made two free throws at the other end after being fouled on a drive into the lane.
Ogwumike had a baseline jumper roll out with 9.6 seconds left and Taurasi failed to hit the rim on a 3-point try for Phoenix.
But Ogwumike grabbed the rebound and made 1 of 2 free throws for a three-point lead.
Skylar Diggins-Smith was off the mark on a heave from midcourt at the buzzer.
“It gets down to those last three minutes, it’s about making plays and getting stops in those moments and just making sure that we’re all on the same page,” head coach Vanessa Nygaard said postgame. Just had some unfortunate turnovers in those spaces and foul differential was a real thing in the game for us today.”
Lexie Brown added 14 points, and Canada and Katie Lou Samuelson each added 10 points for Los Angeles.
.@SkyDigg4 shootin’ for the moon
pic.twitter.com/uitZVrE8Ya
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) July 5, 2022
Diggins-Smith led Phoenix (9-14) with 22 points. Taurasi had 13 points and six assists, and Sophie Cunningham and Shey Peddy each scored 10.
Phoenix has dropped two straight games and will take on the Liberty on Thursday.