CHICAGO -- The Sparks have been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Sky (12-22) ran away from the Sparks in the second half, grabbing a 92-78 victory and snapping their seven-game losing streak.
The loss by the Sparks (7-27) officially takes them out of the playoff race.
The Sky led 55-50 in the third period before they went on an 11-2 run. The Sparks did cut the deficit to nine at some point before Angel Reese made a three-point play to put it back to double figures. Los Angeles was never able to cut it to single digits again.
"Disappointing middle quarters for us tonight," Sparks coach Curt Miller said. "Giving up 56 points in those middle quarters really just put us in our heels. It was just really frustrating. They shot over 50 percent. Over 43 percent from the arc. Had their second highest point total of the year.
"Frustrating. Didn't execute very many things that we wanted to do defensively. And really don't have a lot of answers why we couldn't get some of that done."
With the Sparks eliminated from playoff contention, Miller was asked if there were going to be any changes going forward now that a playoff berth isn't on the line.
"We're just gonna keep exploring," Miller said. "Giving people looks that give us the best chance to win. You've gotta play people that continue to earn minutes."
Dearica Hamby scored 21 points to lead the Sparks while Rickea Jackson scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half. Jackson was asked about players increasingly going at her defensively.
"The other game, Coach Curt was just like, 'You earned this attention on the offensive end,' It's cute, I guess," Jackson said. "They take it personal. I like it. I don't want anyone to just take it easy on me. Challenge my defense a little bit."
Five Sky players scored in double figures. Angel Reese got her league-leading 26th double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Chennedy Carter made her return and nearly got a triple-double herself with a 15-9-7 line.
The Sparks have four of their six remaining games at home. On Sunday, they will be back in Los Angeles as they play the first of two games against the Connecticut Sun.