Sparks top Sun in regular-season finale

Nneka Ogwumike scored 21 points, Candace Parker had a double-double and the defending champion Los Angeles Sparks closed the WNBA regular season with an 81-70 win over Connecticut.

LOS ANGELES » Nneka Ogwumike scored 21 points, Candace Parker had a double-double and the defending champion Los Angeles Sparks closed the WNBA regular season with an 81-70 win over Connecticut on Sunday.

Los Angeles (26-8) went 15-1 at home, but finished a game behind Minnesota for the top seed in the playoffs. The Sparks have a bye until the semifinals. The Sun (21-13) are the fourth seed and have a firstround bye. Parker had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Sparks and Odyssey Sims had 16 points.

Courtney Williams led the Suns with 19 points. Jonquel Jones had 10 rebounds to finish with 403, the first player in league history to surpass 400. Tina Charles held the old record at 398. With 10 points, Jones had 20 double-doubles this season.

The Sparks never trailed, leading 20-13 after one quarter and 38-27 at the half. They finished shooting 51 percent and had a 56-20 advantage on points in the paint.

Los Angeles had the same record last year and was also the No. 2 seed but beat the topseeded Lynx in the finals. LYNX 86, MYSTICS 72 » At St. Paul, Minn., Maya Moore scored 26 points and Renee Montgomery added 18 to help the Minnesota Lynx secure the top seed in the playoffs.

Minnesota (27-7) finished the season a game ahead of Los Angeles (26-8). Both teams have byes until in the semifinals on Sept. 12. Washington (18-16) is the sixth seed and plays the Dallas Wings on Wednesday. LIBERTY 82, WINGS 81 » At Arlington, Texas, Tina Charles had 18 points and 18 rebounds to help New York clinch the third seed in the playoffs with a win over the Wings and extend the Liberty’s winning streak to 10 games.

The Liberty (22-12) matched the franchise record for longest winning streak and have a first-round bye. The seventh-seeded Wings (1618) play at No. 6 Washington in a one-game playoff on Wednesday.