LOS ANGELES — Nneka Ogwumike had a putback of a missed 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to help the Los Angeles Sparks edge the Atlanta Dream 66-64 on Thursday night.
Atlanta made a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions — by Aari McDonald and Crystal Bradford — to tie it at 64 with 25.6 left.
Kristi Toliver dribbled down the clock and attempted a long 3-pointer that hit off the back and front of the rim. Ogwumike grabbed the rebound in traffic and ignored the inadvertent shot-clock buzzer to put it off the glass and in.
Ogwumike finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for Los Angeles (9-13). Toliver and Amanda Zahui B. each added 10 points. Toliver passed Mwadi Mabika to become Los Angeles’ leader in made 3-pointers with 399.
Los Angeles led by 17 points in the second half, but went scoreless for four minutes in the fourth quarter as Atlanta pulled within 62-58.
Courtney Williams scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Atlanta (6-16). It was her 13th career double-double and fourth of the season. Williams has led the Dream in points 11 times, rebounds eight times and assists 13 times this season. McDonald scored all 15 of her points in the second half. Tiffany Hayes played for the first time since injuring here right MCL against Washington on June 17. She had two rebounds and two steals in 16 minutes.
On Tuesday, Toliver forced overtime with Atlanta on a last-second jumper and the Sparks pulled away for an 85-80 win.
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