LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kelsey Plum scored 18 of her 25 points in the second half and the Los Angeles Sparks had a fast start before holding off the Toronto Tempo 99-95 on Friday night for their first win of the season.
The teams will meet against Sunday in Los Angeles.
The expansion Tempo (1-2), in their first road game, trailed by 20 in the second half before getting within two points with 2:23 to play. Plum and Nneka Ogwumike combined for the next six points. Toronto was within three with just under a minute to go but Plum made a pair of free throws with 13.8 seconds to left and Cameron Brink added two more with 8.9 left to make it 99-93.
Ogwumike added 20 points for the Sparks (1-2), Dearica Hamby had 19, Rae Burrell 13 and Eric Wheeler 10.
Brittney Sykes scored 27 points for Toronto, reserve Laura Juskaite had 16 and Nyara Sabally added 14. With Kiki Rice adding 11 off the bench the Tempo reserves had 42 points to just Brink's 10 points for the Sparks.
But L.A. shot 64% (37 of 58) to 44% for Toronto, which was outscored 54-30 on points in the paint.
Los Angeles scored the first 10 points of the game and led 21-2 before the Tempo recovered and cut the deficit to 28-17 after one quarter. The Sparks made 11 of 18 shots.
Toronto closed to 42-37 on a Sykes finger roll late in the second quarter but trailed 46-38 at the half.
The Sparks opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run to take a 58-38 lead midway through. Then the Tempo clawed back again, getting within 74-63 going into the fourth quarter.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Join us to watch the last California Governor's Debate on Thursday, May 14 at Round Table Pi… Read moreCalifornia Governor's Debate Watch
San Mateo Bonsai Club - Bonsai Show Read moreSan Mateo Bonsai Club - Bonsai Show
Join New York Times bestselling author Caroline Paul for a lively discussion of her book Tou… Read moreBook Club with Author Caroline Paul
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.