Nneka Ogwumike has 27 points, leads Sparks over Storm 92-85

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nneka Ogwumike had 27 points and 14 rebounds, Layshia Clarendon had 16 points, six assists and three steals and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Seattle Storm 92-85 Saturday night.

Seattle (0-4) is off to its worst start since it lost four in a row in its inaugural season in 2000.

Jewell Loyd hit a 3-pointer that gave Seattle a two-point lead with 3:36 left in the third quarter but the Sparks scored 17 of the next 23 points to make it 72-61 — L.A.’s biggest lead of the game. Brown capped the spurt with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.

Loyd scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and Jade Melbourne’s 3-pointer — which Loyd assisted on — trimmed Seattle’s deficit to 86-82 with 1:42 remaining but the Storm got no closer.

Chiney Ogwumike added 15 points and Lexie Brown scored 14 for Los Angeles (3-2), Jordin Canada had nine points, seven assists and four steals.

Loyd tied her career high with eight 3-pointers and finished with 37 points for Seattle, one shy of her career best. Ezi Magbegor added 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Seattle hit 13 3-pointers but committed 16 turnovers, which the Sparks converted into 17 points. Los Angeles outscored the Storm 23-12 from the free-throw line on 11 more (27) attempts.

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