LOS ANGELES — Dearrica Hamby scored 21 points, rookie Rikea Jackson added 19 and the last-placed Los Angeles Sparks beat the WNBA-leading New York Liberty 94-88 on Wednesday night to end a seven-game losing streak.
Ray Burrell was 7 of 8 from the field and 3 of 3 from 3-point range to score a season-high-tying 18 points for the Sparks (7-24).
Odyssey Sims added 14 points and seven assists, and Azura Stevens chipped in with 10 points.
The Liberty (26-5) have lost two of their last three games after winning eight straight and are just 2¹/₂ games behind the Minnesota Lynx (who have won seven in a row), who have the best record in the league.
Jackson made his fourth and final 3-pointer late in the third quarter to give Los Angeles a decisive 65-63 lead.
Burrell scored 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the fourth quarter to edge Liberty.
Liberty's Breanna Stewart led all scorers with 32 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, while Sabrina Ionescu added 18 points and six assists.
A Stewart free throw with 4:14 left cut the Sparks' lead to 77-74, but Los Angeles rallied back with 10 straight points to close the gap to 13 points, 87-74, with 1:41 left to end the game.
Los Angeles jumped out to an early lead thanks to a scoring spree from Jackson, who went on a 15-0 run late in the first quarter to build a 24-10 lead, finishing with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, in less than two minutes.
Jackson made 7 of 11 field goals and 4 of 6 3-pointers. The No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft has shot just 21 percent (15 of 71) from the 3-point line through her first 28 WNBA games.
She has made 13 of 19 (68%) 3-point attempts over her past three games.
Liberty tied the score four times in the third quarter but never took the lead.
Liberty's last lead came at 4:17 in the first quarter, with the score at 10-9.
Ionescu, who made 7 of 21 field goals and 3 of 14 3-pointers, has made a 3-pointer in 55 consecutive games, tying her with Diana Taurasi for the second-longest streak in WNBA history.
Ivory Latta made 66 consecutive three-pointers in 66 consecutive games with the Washington Mystics from June 21, 2013 to June 14, 2015.
Ionescu also passed Vickie Johnson (787) on the Liberty's career assist list for second place with 792, trailing only five-time WNBA All-Star Theresa Weatherspoon (1,306).
