First-place Sparks down Comets

Chamique Holdsclaw scored 19 points, Lisa Leslie added 18, and the Los Angeles Sparks held off the visiting Houston Comets 74-62 on Wednesday night.

Temeka Johnson had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Sparks (14-5), who moved two games ahead of second-place Houston in the Western Conference with their 11th victory in 13 games.

Tina Thompson led the Comets (12-7) with 13 points, while Sheryl Swoopes added 10 rebounds and nine points.

The Comets used a 15-4 surge to narrow the deficit to 47-40 with 4:54 left in the third quarter, then drew within 57-53 on Sancho Lyttle’s inside jumper with 8:34 to play.

But Johnson and Holdsclaw each scored four points during an 11-2 run that extended the Sparks’ lead to 68-55 with 3:21 remaining.

Lynx 84, Mystics 74: At Minneapolis, rookie Seimone Augustus scored 25 points and Minnesota snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over Washington.

Augustus had 17 points in the first half to help Minnesota build a 10-point lead, but was held scoreless in the third period. She bounced back to make four big shots in the fourth quarter for the Lynx, who held off a Washington team playing without injured Alana Beard.

Catchings, Bird lead voting

Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings and Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird were the leading vote-getters among the WNBA All-Star starters.

Bird, averaging 10.3 points, 5.4 assists and 1.67 steals, was the top vote-getter in the Western Conference. She will be joined by teammate and forward Lauren Jackson as a starter.