Sparks seek to shake Fever loss and take on the Stars

LOS ANGELES — The Sparks are looking to win their second game of the season when they host the Dallas Wings on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Sparks forward Dearica Hamby was effective in the first half but scored only two of her team-high 18 points after halftime in the team’s 78-73 loss to the Indiana Fever Friday night. Still, Hamby had an all-around impact, grabbing 12 rebounds, for her third double-double of the season, and dishing out a season-high seven assists.

The Sparks led 45-34 at halftime against the Fever but mustered only 28 points in the second half, including 11 points in a pivotal third quarter.

Veteran guards Lexie Brown and Kia Nurse scored nine points combined and went 0-12 from beyond the arc, which exacerbated the team’s scoring woes. The team’s lack of perimeter scoring, when paired with 18 turnovers, in part due to the physicality of unsung Fever players like Temi Fagbenle and Kristy Wallace, was too much for the Sparks to overcome in the disappointing loss in front of a record sellout crowd 19,103 fans.

Rookie forwards Rickea Jackson (16 points) and Cameron Brink (15 points and nine rebounds) both had season-highs in the scoring column in their fourth career games.

“Cam’s line 15 and 9 and I think she could have been even more dominant. And Rickea made some big baskets for us, so you see the potential, they’re going to be big for us all year,” Sparks coach Curt Miller said after Friday’s game. “I think both of them would say that they can play better.”

Dallas is led by three-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale, who is averaging 28 points in her first three games, but is without All-Star starters Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard. However, the Stars recently signed forward Monique Billings, who was the Sparks’ last training camp cut two weeks ago. The UCLA graduate and Riverside native had 20 points and 10 rebounds in Dallas’ 83-78 loss to Atlanta on May 21.

The Wings will be on the second half of back-to-back road games after Saturday night’s game at Phoenix, which means the Sparks will be the more rested team heading into Sunday’s matchup.

DALLAS (1-2) AT SPARKS (1-3)

When: 6 p.m. Sunday

Where: Crypto.com Arena

TV: Spectrum SportsNet