Spirited Sparks rally falls short against Valkyries as losing slide continues

The Sparks pieced together a big fourth-quarter rally on Friday, but it was too little, too late against the Valkyries.

After falling behind by 20 points in the second half, a spirited Sparks rally came up short against the Valkyries on Friday as LA dropped its third straight game, falling 82-73.

The Sparks looked dead in the water for much of the second, third and beginning of the fourth quarter. However, inspired by Dearica Hamby, LA rallied in a big way in the final frame to cut the deficit all the way down to five points.

However, it was a mountain too tall to climb as Golden State knocked down free throws in the final minutes to seal the win.

Following Kelsey Plum exploding for 37 points in the season opener in Golden State, the Valkyries made a point to limit the guard as she finished with just 16 points on 6-18 shooting overall and 2-10 from range.

Dearica Hamby had 25 points and six rebounds. Odyssey Sims had her most productive game of the season with 13 points, though it came on 4-13 shooting.

The Sparks shot just 38.7% from the field. They also committed 19 turnovers that Golden State turned into 22 points.

Injuries continued to plague the Sparks as Rickea Jackson remained out, joining Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell.

A slow start from LA allowed the Valkyries to open up an early 7-1 run. LA responded, though, with a 19-2 fueled by Dearica Hamby, who scored eight points in the spurt. Odyssey Sims joined her as the pair each had eight points in the first.

Golden State slowly chipped away at the lead before scoring the final eight points of the frame to close the deficit all the way to 26-24 heading into the second. The run continued into the second period, eventually totaling a 16-1 run as the Valkyries led 32-26 at the midway point of the period.

Janelle Salaün, who did not play in either of the previous meetings against the Sparks, continued the run with back-to-back 3-pointers as the lead ballooned to 12 and the run reached 22-1. A Temi Fagbenle layup gave the Valkyries an 18-0 advantage in the second period before Hamby finally gave the Sparks their first points with a layup over seven minutes into the quarter.

Golden State finished out the half strong, outscoring the hosts 25-9 in the period to take a 49-35 lead into the locker room.

Salaün came out still firing in the third, knocking down her fourth three of the game to open the frame and help the Vaklyries earn their biggest lead at 17 points. The Sparks struggled to offer a serious response as the lead never dipped below 12 points. A pair of Kate Martin 3-pointers, her first baskets of the year, helped Golden State maintain control of the game.

A 9-2 run by Golden State, featuring a 3-pointer by former Spark Stephanie Talbot, really blew the game open as the margin reached 20 points.

The fourth quarter featured much of the same song and dance as the Sparks struggled to make inroads into the lead. However, the Sparks slowly chipped away before a Plum 3-pointer gave them their most momentum of the second half as the lead was down to 10.

Both Sarah Ashlee Barker and Hamby had looks from beyond the arc on ensuing possessions but couldn’t get them to drop. Finally, Hamby got a basket to drop plus a foul, cutting the lead to single digits for the first time since the second quarter.

While she missed the free throw, she would get a layup the next time down the floor to make it a six-point game. Hamby then split a pair of free throws to reach 20 points.

The Sparks had a chance to cut into the lead even more but committed their 18th turnover on the night, then fouled Kayla Thornton on a 3-pointer on the other end. Thorton knocked all three shots, but Hamby responded with a 3-pointer of her own.

That would be as close as LA would get as Golden State saw out the game from the free throw line to close out the victory.

The Sparks will be back in action on Sunday as they host the Chicago Sky at 3 p.m. PT.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.