Dearica Hamby has a double-double, but Sparks lose | College News
CHICAGO — So close, and yet so far.
The Sparks couldn’t construct off of Sunday’s win Wednesday and dropped to seven video games under .500 with a 95-88 loss in Chicago. It aligned with the story of the 2026 Sparks, where being totally aggressive has been just out of attain besides for a few flashes.
An honest center of the sport was overwhelmed by a unhealthy opening and closing. Chicago scored 33 factors in the first quarter and 34 in the fourth to keep the Sparks from totally closing in. Dearica Hamby led the Sparks with 22 factors and 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.
The Sparks (11-18) fell into a 15-point gap in the first after Chicago rattled off 5 three-pointers. The Sky (12-19) led 48-38 at the half.
“In the first quarter, we came out a little flat,” coach Lynne Roberts said. “I don’t know why. We were just reacting to everything, and I felt like the fourth quarter was a little bit of that. We had a couple bad minutes stretch where they went on a run, and then defensively just kind of died in the fourth.”
Behind a 10-2 open to the third quarter, the Sparks took a temporary lead for the first time and entered the fourth with a 62-61 lead after holding the Sky to just 13 factors.
Cameron Brink scored 11 factors with six rebounds despite incomes her fifth foul early in the fourth quarter. Before the sport, Roberts famous that she would love to get more minutes out of Brink, and avoiding foul hassle is an element of that.
“I got to figure out the fouling,” Brink said. “I have to be more reliable. It’s disappointing. I’m disappointed in myself tonight, but we get to play tomorrow.”
Chicago went on a 13-5 run after Brink, who also blocked three photographs in her 14 minutes, left the sport to retake a nine-point lead that would maintain for the remainder of the sport.
“We were getting stops and playing in transition, which is when we’re good,” Hamby said. “And then I think when Ariel [Atkins] kind of got hit, it kind of slowed us down and stopped momentum.”
Atkins (eight factors, three assists) took a hit to the ribs in the fourth quarter and didn’t return. Roberts said after the sport that she was being evaluated by the medical workers.
Monique Akoa Makani, making her Sparks debut after being acquired in the Kelsey Plum commerce Sunday, entered the sport in the first and made her first shot attempt. She completed with three factors and two assists while capturing one-for-five in 16 minutes off the bench. She acquired some time with the closing lineup while Atkins was out of the rotation.
The second-year guard initiatives as a capturing guard, Roberts said before the sport, and is one of the Sparks few long-term items on such a veteran-heavy roster.
“She played hard,” Roberts said. “She’s still learning the ropes. It’s tough to go out there and in a close game be asked to execute stuff. We’ll figure out how to use her where she’s more comfortable, but it’s just going to take time. But I think she gave us everything she could tonight.”
Roberts also famous she would love to restrict Erica Wheeler’s minutes going ahead, and that was an space Akoa Makani can help the remainder of the season. Wheeler performed 24 minutes Wednesday — Roberts said she’d like to keep her under 25 — and scored 14 factors with 5 assists.
The Sky had been without their main scorer, rookie Sydney Taylor, but had been powered by 15 factors and 9 assists from Natasha Cloud. The Sky’s 53% from the sector was their second-best capturing proportion of the season.
With Washington’s win against Dallas on Wednesday, the Sparks couldn’t gain any ground in the playoff race. Chicago now owns the tiebreaker with a 2-1 season sequence report and is as many video games behind the Mystics, dropping the Sparks additional down in the standings.
Phoenix misplaced on Wednesday to keep a sport behind the Sparks.
The Sparks flip proper around Thursday night time and face league-leading Minnesota (25-6).
“We have some things to figure out,” Brink said. “But we’re not losing hope. We’re just figuring stuff out right now.”
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