Kahleah Copper nets 21 as Mercury hold off slumping Sparks

Kahleah Copper scored nine of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and the visiting Phoenix Mercury held on for an 86-82 victory over the skidding Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday afternoon.

Alyssa Thomas finished off a triple-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists, Monique Akoa Makani had 14 points and Natasha Mack added 10 points off the bench as the Mercury won consecutive games following a five-game losing streak.

Copper was 4 of 5 from the floor in the fourth quarter and 10 of 16 in the game while scoring at least 20 points for the ninth time over the past 11 contests.

Dearica Hamby scored 18 points with 10 rebounds and Nneka Ogwumike added 13 points with 13 rebounds as the Sparks lost for the eighth time in 10 games since All-Star guard Kelsey Plum went down with a left leg injury.

Ogwumike, who returned to the Sparks after two season in Seattle, moved past Candace Parker for second on the Los Angeles all-time rebounding list with 3,483.

Rae Burrell led Los Angeles with 20 points and Ariel Atkins added 15. Burrell, who shot 7 of 16 from the floor and added two assists, has started the past 10 games at point guard in place of Plum.

The Sparks made a late push, trimming an 84-76 deficit with 2:49 to play down to 84-82 with 48 seconds remaining after a layup from Burrell.

After a Mercury turnover, Los Angeles had a chance to tie the game with 19 seconds remaining, but Hamby missed a layup.

Makani sealed the victory for the Mercury on a layup with 14 seconds left.

The Sparks shot just 35.0% from the floor in the first half and yet still pulled within 43-41 at the second-quarter buzzer on a coast-to-coast floater from Burrell.

Copper, Thomas and Makani combined to score 32 of the Mercury's 43 points in the first half as Phoenix shot 45.7%. Hamby went into the break with a team-leading nine points for the Sparks.

The game was tied at 60-all after three quarters and featured ten ties and eight lead changes.

--Field Level Media