Dearica Hamby shines for Sparks, but Mercury hand them a 7th straight loss

PHOENIX — Seven straight road games. Seven straight losses.

Kahleah Copper scored 11 of her 24 points in the third quarter, Diana Taurasi had 20 points, five 3-pointers and six assists, and the Phoenix Mercury beat the struggling Sparks, 92-78, on Friday night, handing them their seventh consecutive defeat.

Dearica Hamby tied a career high with 29 points for the Sparks (4-14), who have not played a home game since a June 9 victory over Las Vegas. Rookie Rickea Jackson added 14 points and Aari McDonald had 12 points and 10 assists.

Copper scored 10 points in the opening six minutes of the second half to help Phoenix build a 63-55 lead.

Sophie Cunningham made a wide open 3-pointer to begin Phoenix’s 7-1 run that ended in a 72-62 lead at the end of the third. The Mercury opened the fourth on an 8-2 spurt to extend their lead to 80-64.

Natasha Cloud highlighted the fourth with a full-court pass to find Copper in stride for a layup and an 87-70 lead.

Brittney Griner had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Cloud added 14 points and seven assists for Phoenix (9-8).

Hamby made her first four 3-pointers to set a career high for 3-point field goals in a game. She finished the half with 21 points, on 8-of-12 shooting, to help the Sparks to a 45-44 lead. Taurasi made four of her five 3-pointers in the first half and paced Phoenix with 16 points.

The Sparks had 24 assists on their 29 field goals but they were badly outrebounded 39-23 and Phoenix outscored them by 12 points in the paint.

The Sparks next host the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena to begin a stretch of four home games in an eight-day stretch.