Slumping Sparks, Sky meet up in quest to end losing skids

The Los Angeles Sparks and Chicago Sky share an unfavorable distinction, with both teams tied for the second-longest active losing streak in the WNBA at three straight losses.

One of the two teams will end their skid on Tuesday in Chicago as both sides try to push themselves back into the playoff picture.

The Sky (3-10) return home after losing six of their first seven in the month of June. Their last defeat, a 93-80 road loss against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, showed outstanding individual effort by veteran forward Elizabeth Williams.

The 11th-year big came in for Kamilla Cardoso and scored 16 points to go along with five rebounds. She displayed the kind of performance Chicago needs to get out of its current slump.

"I think it's been clear that we have to increase the effort with which we play," Williams said. "I think as a vet, you know, I just wanted to lead by example in that sense and be really aggressive and show that there should never be a question of the type of effort we put out on the floor."

Los Angeles (4-10) has played two of its last three games against the WNBA's best team in the Minnesota Lynx. That includes Saturday's 82-66 loss, during which the Sparks entered the fourth quarter down just three points.

Minnesota outshot the Sparks 64.3 percent to 26.3 percent in the final 10 minutes, with 14 missed shots for Los Angeles.

The loss left the team stunned after the rebuilt roster played well for nearly 35 of 40 minutes, but there was still a positive on the defensive side of the ball with 21 forced turnovers.

Los Angeles' Dearica Hamby led all Sparks with four steals on top of 13 points and six rebounds.

"Defensively, we have shown what we want our identity to probably be moving forward," Hamby said. "Show that we're capable of playing hard and pressuring the ball and getting into people's space so that should be the way we should play for 40 minutes going forward."

--Field Level Media