double-double

CHICAGO — So close, and yet so far.

The Sparks couldn’t build off of Sunday’s win Wednesday and dropped to seven games under .500 with a 95-88 loss in Chicago. It aligned with the story of the 2026 Sparks, where being fully competitive has been just out of reach except for a few flashes.

A decent middle of the game was overwhelmed by a bad opening and closing. Chicago scored 33 points in the first quarter and 34 in the fourth to keep the Sparks from fully closing in. Dearica Hamby led the Sparks with 22 points and 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.

The Sparks (11-18) fell into a 15-point hole in the first after Chicago rattled off five three-pointers. The Sky (12-19) led 48-38 at the half.

“In the first quarter, we came out a little flat,” coach Lynne Roberts said. “I don’t know why. We were just reacting to everything, and I felt like the fourth quarter was a little bit of that. We had a couple bad minutes stretch where they went on a run, and then defensively just kind of died in the fourth.”

Behind a 10-2 open to the third quarter, the Sparks took a brief lead for the first time and entered the fourth with a 62-61 lead after holding the Sky to just 13 points.

Cameron Brink scored 11 points with six rebounds despite earning her fifth foul early in the fourth quarter. Before the game, Roberts noted that she would like to get more minutes out of Brink, and avoiding foul trouble is part of that.

“I got to figure out the fouling,” Brink said. “I have to be more reliable. It’s disappointing. I’m disappointed in myself tonight, but we get to play tomorrow.”

Chicago went on a 13-5 run after Brink, who also blocked three shots in her 14 minutes, left the game to retake a nine-point lead that would hold for the rest of the game.

“We were getting stops and playing in transition, which is when we’re good,” Hamby said. “And then I think when Ariel [Atkins] kind of got hit, it kind of slowed us down and stopped momentum.”

Atkins (eight points, three assists) took a hit to the ribs in the fourth quarter and didn’t return. Roberts said after the game that she was being evaluated by the medical staff.

Monique Akoa Makani, making her Sparks debut after being acquired in the Kelsey Plum trade Sunday, entered the game in the first and made her first shot attempt. She finished with three points and two assists while shooting one-for-five in 16 minutes off the bench. She got some time with the closing lineup while Atkins was out of the rotation.

The second-year guard projects as a shooting guard, Roberts said before the game, and is one of the Sparks few long-term pieces on such a veteran-heavy roster.

“She played hard,” Roberts said. “She’s still learning the ropes. It’s tough to go out there and in a close game be asked to execute stuff. We’ll figure out how to use her where she’s more comfortable, but it’s just going to take time. But I think she gave us everything she could tonight.”

Roberts also noted she would like to limit Erica Wheeler’s minutes going forward, and that was an area Akoa Makani can help the rest of the season. Wheeler played 24 minutes Wednesday — Roberts said she’d like to keep her under 25 — and scored 14 points with five assists.

The Sky were without their leading scorer, rookie Sydney Taylor, but were powered by 15 points and nine assists from Natasha Cloud. The Sky’s 53% from the field was their second-best shooting percentage of the season.

With Washington’s win against Dallas on Wednesday, the Sparks could not gain any ground in the playoff race. Chicago now owns the tiebreaker with a 2-1 season series record and is as many games behind the Mystics, dropping the Sparks further down in the standings.

Phoenix lost on Wednesday to stay a game behind the Sparks.

The Sparks turn right around Thursday night and face league-leading Minnesota (25-6).

“We have some things to figure out,” Brink said. “But we’re not losing hope. We’re just figuring stuff out right now.”