Nneka Ogwumike, Sparks roll past last-place Storm

Nneka Ogwumike posted a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Sparks to a 90-74 victory against the host Seattle Storm on Sunday afternoon.

Rae Burrell totaled 22 points for the Sparks (15-25), who took two of three games from Seattle in the season series. Cameron Brink added 11 points.

Rookie Flau'jae Johnson led the last-place Storm (8-32) with 19 points. Dominique Malonga added 17 points and a career-high-tying 15 rebounds, and Zia Cooke came off the bench to score 14.

The Storm, who trailed by as many as 26 points, trimmed their deficit to 80-69 with 4:34 remaining on Johnson's layup. But Los Angeles used a 9-0 run, featuring back-to-back 3-pointers by Brink and Ogwumike, to clinch the victory, their third in the past four games.

The Sparks made 43.8% of their field-goal attempts (32 of 73), including 12 of 31 from 3-point range. The Storm shot 34.1% (28 of 82), going 4 of 22 from distance.

The Sparks led 52-33 at the half and extended their lead to 64-38 on a Burrell layup with 6:11 to go in the third. Seattle's defense finally stiffened and the Storm outscored the Sparks 16-6 over the rest of the quarter to pull within 70-52 entering the fourth.

The Storm pulled within 28-20 with 8:39 remaining in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Cooke before Los Angeles, sparked by Chance Gray's trey, went on an 11-0 run to regain control.

The Sparks took a 25-11 lead after one quarter as Ogwumike scored nine points. Ogwumike, who has announced she plans to retire after the season, was honored in a pregame ceremony for her two seasons (2024-25) spent in Seattle.

Los Angeles scored the game's first 13 points and 18 of the first 20. The Storm missed their first six shots from the field and committed four turnovers before Malonga made a turnaround jumper with 5:13 left in the first quarter for Seattle's first basket.

The Storm played a fourth straight game without guard Natisha Hiedeman (left shoulder), who averages 15.4 points and a team-high 4.8 assists per game. Rookie Awa Fam, the No. 3 overall pick in this year's WNBA draft, had her contract temporarily suspended Thursday as she left to join Spain for the FIBA Women's World Cup.

--Field Level Media