Candace Parker had 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to help the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Sky 93-76 on Sunday at Wintrust Arena.
Parker, who attended Naperville Central High School and had lots of family members in the crowd, tallied her sixth double-double of the season.
“I think they exposed us defensively,” said Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot, who also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. “I feel like Candace Parker kind of took over in the third quarter. Whether it was scoring, passing or assisting, she was just doing whatever she wanted. We can’t beat them if we let her do that. She’s going to have games like that, and tonight she did.”
The Sparks (15-10) pulled away with a 9-0 run early in the third quarter to lead 49-40 and extended the advantage to 79-62 with 6:48 left in the fourth.
“In the third quarter, they were able to produce a lot of points,” Sky coach and general manager Amber Stocks said. “Thirty points in the quarter, and that really hurt us. A lot of those points came from our turnovers and mishaps on the offensive end. Turnovers, missed opportunities and simple mistakes on defense really cost us in the end.”
The Sky (8-17) went on a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to 80-71, but the Sparks responded with six consecutive points and led by double digits from there.
Odyssey Sims and Essence Carson added 16 points each for the Sparks. Stefanie Dolson had season highs of 20 points and seven assists for the Sky.
Sims left the game with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter because of a leg injury. The Sparks also were missing Nneka Ogwumike and Alana Beard.
“[Depth] was something that we should have been able to use to our advantage in this game,” Stocks said.
