Recaps: Wheeler evades defenders late to lead Sparks to overtime victory

With 49.5 seconds to go in overtime, Erica Wheeler (17 points, seven assists, three steals) received an inbounds pass from Amanda Zahui B. (17 points, eight rebounds, three blocks). She then dribbled some time off the clock, drove right on Kahleah Copper, split between Copper and a lunging Courtney Vandersloot and finished with an impressive layup that gave the Los Angeles Sparks a three-point lead on the Chicago Sky with 36.3 ticks remaining.

The basket forced Chicago to take a three on their final possession of the contest instead of a two and Astou Ndour-Fall (nine points, 12 rebounds) missed with 1.9 left on the clock. The Sparks held on to win 82-79 on Sunday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Nia Coffey (15 points, three steals) made a key 3-pointer that put LA up 80-75 with 2:03 to play after Nneka Ogwumike (21 points, nine rebounds) had finished a layup at the 2:24 mark to make it 77-75.

Wheeler scored the only other bucket of overtime for the Sparks to make it 75-75 and also made the game-tying layup with 11.3 seconds left in regulation. The Sky led by seven with 4:26 to go in the fourth, but LA went on a 7-0 run featuring baskets from Coffey, N. Ogwumike and Wheeler.

Determined to bounce back from her two-point performance on Friday, Vandersloot (28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) dominated the game early on. She was doing it all with distributing and scoring and the Sky raced out to a 27-13 lead after one.

The Sparks (2-2) won the second by 14 to tie it up at halftime. This was their second win in a row and both came against the Sky (2-4). LA forced 49 turnovers between the two games combined.

Other action

Las Vegas Aces (5-2) over Indiana Fever (1-7), 101-78

The Aces scored over 100 points for the second game in a row after scoring a franchise-record 113 on the same Fever team on Friday.

Dearica Hamby led the way on Sunday with 22 points while Riquna Williams had 16 on a 4-of-5 effort from distance. A’ja Wilson added 15 points, Liz Cambage had 13, 13 rebounds and five blocks and Jackie Young had 12.

JiSu Park and recently signed former Liberty forward Joyner Holmes both chipped in with eight points and Chelsea Gray (game-high five assists) rounded out the Vegas scorers with seven.

The Aces blew away the Fever with a 32-15 first quarter and also won the third 24-17.

Teaira McCowan notched 15 points and nine boards in defeat. Victoria Vivians was Indiana’s leading scorer with 17 points.