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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Lisa Leslie scored 27 points and
Tamecka Dixon added 17 -- all in the second half -- as Los Angeles
beat the Detroit Shock 84-81 Wednesday night. It was the Sparks' 10th
consecutive victory.
|  | | Detroit's Dominique Canty (10) goes up over Los Angeles' Tamecka Dixon, but the Sparks, not the Shock, came out on top in the end.
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The Sparks (26-3) also won their 10 in a row on the road,
breaking the league record they shared with the 1998 Houston
Comets.
Detroit (12-16) lost its sixth in eight games since the All-Star
break. However, the Shock still lead Washington by a half-game
for the fourth and last Eastern Conference playoff position.
Dominique Canty led Detroit with 17 points, and Astou
Ndiaye-Diatta had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Shock led for the entire first half, and held a 36-33 edge
at the intermission.
The Sparks got back into the game when Ukari Figgs and Dixon hit
3-pointers on their first two possessions of the second half,
cutting the deficit to 38-37. Leslie's three-point play tied it at
48 with 14:12 to go.
The Sparks stayed close, but Claudia Maria das Neves hit one of
her trademark NBA-length 3-pointers to give the Shock a 58-54
cushion with 10:29 to go.
That started a 7-1 run that gave the Shock a seven-point lead
with 8:20 to go.
The Sparks came back with a 7-2 surge of their own that included
five points from Dixon.
Los Angeles took a 66-65 lead on Dixon's layup with 5:58 left,
and the teams traded the advantage for the next several minutes.
After eleven lead changes, Mwadi Mabika and Figgs hit
consecutive 3-pointers to give the Sparks an 80-75 lead with 1:29
to go.
On the ensuing possession, Leslie fouled out and Palmer hit two
free throws, but Clarissa Machanguana answered with a putback to
keep the margin at five.
Canty's basket made it 82-79, and Dixon was called for an
offensive foul to give Detroit the ball with 31.4 seconds left.
Palmer scored to get Detroit to one point down, but Dixon made two free
throws to move the edge back to 84-81 with 12.6 to go.
Palmer missed a 3-pointer, with the rebound bouncing harmlessly
out of bounds as time expired.
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
RECAPS
Los Angeles 84
Detroit 81
Utah 72
Minnesota 62
Sacramento 73
Miami 55
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