Sparks pull away in fourth to rout Wings, 79-61

Dearica Hamby scored 23 points as the visiting Los Angeles Sparks poured it on in the fourth quarter to beat the host Dallas Wings 79-61 on Wednesday in a Commissioner's Cup game in Arlington, Texas.

Nneka Ogwumike added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Sparks, who won for the second in their past three outings. Los Angeles (5-4) will play its next five games at home.

The Sparks led by 10 points heading into the final period and used their defense to stymie any chance of a Dallas comeback. The Wings managed just 10 points in the fourth quarter and scored just two over the final 5:09 of the game.

Jordin Canada added 15 points for Los Angeles.

Kalani Brown led the Wings (5-5) with 21 points and took 11 rebounds. Satou Sabally added 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Arike Ogunbowale scored 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the floor.

The Sparks led by as many as eight points after Ogwumike's layup at the 2:47 mark of the first quarter. Dallas responded, closing the period with a 7-2 run capped by Natasha Howard's layup with 53 seconds remaining to pull within 19-16 after the opening 10 minutes of play.

The Wings drew within 27-26 on a layup by Brown with 5:31 to play in the second quarter before Los Angeles reasserted itself, drawing away to a 10-point lead after Zia Cooke's pullup jumper with 1:49 left until halftime.

Two free throws by Sabally allowed Dallas to close its deficit to 38-32 at the break.

Ogwumike led all scorers with 12 points while Sabally and Brown had 9 each to pace the Wings at the half.

The Sparks added to their lead over the first four minutes of the third quarter, going up 49-40 after a running layup by Hamby at the 6:02 mark. A pair of free throws by Hamby with 29 seconds left in the period increased Los Angeles' lead to 61-51 with a quarter to play.