ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale scored 20 points and the Dallas Wings closed the WNBA regular season on Sunday with an 87-84 win over Los Angeles, which kept the Sparks out of the playoffs, giving the No. 8 seed to the New York Liberty.
With Los Angeles and Washington losing on the final day, idle New York (12-20) got into the postseason by holding the Liberty holding the three-way tiebreaker. New York will play a first-round, single-elimination game at Phoenix on Thursday.
The Wings (14-18) were locked into the seventh seed and play at No. 6 Chicago on Thursday.
The Wings led 44-41 at the half and stretched the lead to 13 early in the fourth quarter before the Sparks responded with nine straight points. Twice Ogunbowale knocked down 3-pointers to restore the lead to seven. The teams traded scores but Allisha Gray missed two free throws — Dallas was 17 of 17 before that — with 7.4 seconds left, giving L.A. one last chance.
The Sparks were 13 of 26 from 3-point range until Erica Wheeler, who scored 22 points, missed a final, tying attempt in the closing seconds.
Marina Mabrey scored 16 points for the Wings. Dallas also got a boost from Isabelle Harrison, who missed the previous four games because of virus protocol. She scored 14 points.
Nneka Ogwumike kept Los Angeles in the game, hitting two of her season-high four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scoring 18 points with 10 rebounds. Te'a Cooper led the Sparks with 24 points.
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