Struggling Sparks fall on late shot

ATLANTA 88 SPARKS 86

ATLANTA — Cheyenne Parker drove the baseline and made a go-ahead layup with 0.3 seconds left to lift the Atlanta Dream past the Sparks 88-86 on Friday.

The Sparks called a timeout after Parker’s make and Nneka Ogwumike sank a shot from the baseline, but it was ruled to come after the buzzer.

Rhyne Howard scored 28 points for Atlanta (14-18).

Brittney Sykes scored 23 points and Ogwumike added 16 for the Sparks (12-20), who have lost six straight.

Ogwumike tied it at 83 on a basket in traffic, but Aari McDonald completed a three-point play to give Atlanta the lead. Sparks forward Katie Lou Samuelson sank a three-pointer to tie it at 86 with 3.2 seconds left.

Ogwumike moved past Angel McCoughtry for 17th in WNBA history with 2,021 field goals.