Sparks fall to Sun despite big game from Rickea Jackson

There were flashes of hope, but in the end, not even a career night for Rickea Jackson was enough as the Sparks fell to the Connecticut Sun 79-67 for their fourth consecutive loss.

The Sun, who hold the second-best record in the WNBA at 25-10, presented no shortage of challenges for the league-worst Sparks (7-28). Their length proved to be a nightmare defensively for the Sparks, who gave up 16 points off 17 turnovers. They conceded 13 second-chance points to Connecticut while scoring only seven second-chance points of their own, despite being relatively equal in rebounds (29 for the Sun, 27 for the Sparks).

Despite this, the Sparks held a lead for the majority of the game thanks to a huge effort from Jackson, who led both teams in scoring (23 points) and also made her presence felt on defense with a career-high four steals.

The Sparks were 12 for 14 from the free-throw line in the first half, with eight of them coming from Dearica Hamby. That momentum disappeared in the second half as the Sparks went four for six from the line the rest of the way.

Marina Mabrey gave Connecticut the lead on a three-pointer with just under 6:30 to go in the fourth quarter, and the Sun would take control of the game from that point on as they went on a 13-3 run until the final buzzer. There was no dagger, there were no dramatics, it was just a complete and utter takeover until the Sparks ran out of life.

The Sparks will have a chance for redemption Tuesday, as these two teams run it back at Crypto.com Arena.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.