Sparks run wild past injury-depleted Storm

LOS ANGELES – Kristi Toliver scored 23 points to lead all five starters in double-digit scoring and the Los Angeles Sparks defeated the injury-depleted Seattle Storm 83-59 on Saturday.

Candace Parker scored 17 points, DeLisha Milton-Jones 15, Nneka Ogwumike 13 and Alana Beard 10. Toliver, coming off a career-high tying 29-point game, went 9 for 14 from the field to lead an excellent game by the starters.

Los Angeles did not get any points from its bench until Jantel Lavender scored with fewer than 3 minutes remaining.

The Sparks (12-6) improved to 4-0 this season against the Storm, who finished the game with seven healthy players after Tina Thompson left with a leg injury in the fourth quarter.

Thompson had her left ankle bent awkwardly when Ogwumike fell on it with 7:12 remaining. Thompson was helped off the court and did not put weight on her left leg.

Seattle was already without Sue Bird, its leading scorer and a member of the U.S. Olympic women’s team, because of a hip flexor, and starting center and top rebounder Ann Wauters who missed a second straight game with a strained calf.

Camille Little scored 12 points to lead the Storm (7-9), who had won six of seven and were coming off a win against Connecticut on Sunday.

But without Bird outside and Wauters inside for Seattle, the Sparks took full advantage and built off a win Thursday against defending champion Minnesota. They improved to 8-1 at home.

Ogwumike pushed the lead to 21 points in the third quarter when she completed a three-point play.