Marine Johannes' 17 not enough in Liberty loss to Sparks
Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd, right, drives against Liberty guard Sami Whitcomb and guard Marine Johannes during the first half of a WNBA game on June 19 at Barclays Center. Credit: AP/Mary Altaffer
LOS ANGELES — Nneka Ogwumike scored 22 points, Liz Cambage added 16 and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Liberty 84-74 Sunday.
Chiney Ogwumike had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Katie Lou Samuelson also scored 12 points and Jordin Canada added 11 points and seven assists for the Sparks (9-11), who won consecutive games for the first time since the end of May.
Nneka Ogwumike made a layup midway through the third quarter to give the Sparks the lead for good at 53-52 and Chiney Ogwumike's jumper with 1:22 left in the period stretched the lead to 65-57. Crystal Dangerfield made a 3-pointer, Han Xu hit a hook shot and Marine Johannes followed with another 3 to trim the Liberty's deficit to 69-68 with 4:42 to play but Cambage made baskets to open and cap a 10-2 spurt that made it 79-70 with 2 minutes to go.
Johannes led the Liberty (8-12) with 17 points and Natasha Howard scored 13. Sabrina Ionescu had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists but made just 5 of 18 from the field — including 3 of 12 from 3-point range — and committed six turnovers.
Kristi Tolliver left the game in the opening minutes due to a calf injury and did not return for the Sparks.
