Parker breaks out for near triple-double, LA finishes homestand 6-0

Los Angeles, CA -- Fourth of July may be over, but fireworks were going off in LA today when the Sparks lit up Staples Center.

This was their 18th win and last home game until September. They put on a colorful grand finale to end the Sparks last home game until September 4^th by beating the Mystics, 93-82

Los Angeles Sparks Nneka Ogwumike, lit up the floor when she made the first two points of the game.

Washington Mystics Emma Meesseman, came back and answered, hitting eight points in the first quarter. Her points helped give the Mystics a 21-20 lead to end the first.

There were sparks flying for both Los Angeles and Washington during the second quarter, after consecutive points were made by both teams.

However, the Sparks reminded the Mystics whose house it was in the second quarter, when the Sparks' Kristi Toliver, hit a three-pointer making the score 28-30 and making it a two-point game.

Toliver showed Los Angeles fans in the second quarter that she wasn't settling for anything less then fireworks hitting another three-pointer, making it her third of the game.

This gave the Sparks an eight-point lead over the Mystics, and helped send them into halftime up 44-42.

It was Déjà vu for Sparks fans, when Ogwumike scored the first two points again to start the third, and she didn't stop there.

"They stepped it up," Mystics forward Meesseman said. "They didn't expect us to come out like that, and they returned with a better defense."

The Sparks went into the fourth quarter on top with a 65-62 lead over the Mystics. However, with just two minutes into the fourth, they were up by 12 points, making it the highest lead in the game thus far.

What was it that caused the Mystics to lose their spark in the forth?

"We turned the ball over at the wrong times," Coach Mike Thibault said.  "We throw it right to them and they get a lay up those are the killers."

Sparks were just starting to fly for Los Angeles. With the help from the games two leading scorers, Candace Parker and Ogwumike, the team showed Los Angeles what a fireworks show looks like, as they finished the game on top of the Mystics giving them no way of stealing the game on the road.

"For this game specifically, we did a great job moving the ball and not running too many set plays," Ogwumike said. "I think we did an awesome job scoring in transition, capitalizing on our mismatch."

LA plans to keep the fire burning amongst their team as they go into their five game away stretch, but they are going to take each game as it comes.

"They should worry about tomorrow and getting to Chicago, " Sparks Coach Brian Agler said."They need to worry about practicing on Tuesday and preparing for our game on Thursday."

The Sparks will start their five-city tour when they attempt to continue their dominance against the Chicago Sky on Thursday July 13th.