Sparks 67, Mercury 64

PHOENIX (AP) Mwadi Mabika hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give Los Angeles a 67-64 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night, snapping the Sparks' four-game losing streak.

The officiating crew used replays to confirm the shot, off an inbounds pass by Jennifer Gillom with six-tenths of a second to play, was released before the horn sounded.

``They drew the play up for somebody else and I was supposed to take it out but I didn't want to take it out,'' Mabika said. ``I wanted to shoot it and I shot it.''

Nikki Teasley scored 16 points, Mabika added 15 and Vanessa Nygaard had 14 for the Sparks (19-9), who held onto first place in the Western Conference by one-half game despite Houston's 66-56 win over Detroit on Friday.

The Sparks erased a 12-point halftime deficit and had gone ahead 64-61 with 45 seconds left on Tamecka Dixon's three-point play. But Tamicha Jackson hit a 20-footer with 35 seconds left to tie it for Phoenix (6-21), which has lost 16 straight games, including playoffs, to the Sparks.

Mabika then traveled on the Sparks' next possession, giving Phoenix the ball with 21 seconds left. But the Mercury couldn't get anything more than Adrian Williams' shot that fell short with the ball going out of bounds with :00.6 left.

``We had three shooters out there and we knew one of them would hopefully get open,'' Sparks coach Michael Cooper said.

Plenette Pierson had 20 points but missed seven of 19 free throws for Phoenix. Jackson added 11 points and four assists.

The Sparks are 4-6 since the All-Star game, when they lost Lisa Leslie to a right knee injury. Leslie was averaging 19 points before getting hurt. However, three of those wins have come against Phoenix. The longest losing streak in Sparks' history was five games in 1998.

Los Angeles was coming off its worst loss in franchise history, 92-56 at Seattle on Wednesday.

Phoenix, the worst free throw shooting team in the WNBA, was 19-of-33 from the foul line, including going 4-of-6 over the final 3:28.

``If we just take care of business at the free throw line, then the game is over,'' Phoenix coach John Shumate said.

The last Phoenix win over Los Angeles was at home on July 17, 1999.

After a seven-game losing streak, the Mercury came in having won three of their last five.

The Sparks also played without DeLisha Milton, who was averaging 13 points and 7.0 rebounds before injuring her right ankle.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)