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WASHINGTON — Sonia Citron scored 21 points, Shakira Austin had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and the Washington Mystics rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Sparks 80-70 on Saturday night.

Former USC star Kiki Iriafen added 19 points and eight rebounds for Washington (20-14), which was coming off two straight losses at Las Vegas. Citron had eight assists and six rebounds.

Austin’s layup with six minutes left in the fourth quarter gave Washington a 65-64 lead, its first advantage since it was 41-39 at halftime. With three minutes left, Citron hit a three-pointer for a 74-69 lead and the Mystics closed it out with a 9-1 run.

Washington outscored the Sparks 25-12 in the fourth quarter.

Rae Burrell scored 20 points, Nneka Ogwumike had 15 and Dearica Hamby added 11 for the Sparks (12-22).

The Sparks led 26-24 one minute into the second quarter before Washington went on an 11-2 run in the next three minutes to lead 35-28. Two three-pointers from Burrell and one from Erica Wheeler got the Sparks within 41-39 at halftime.

Wheeler and Burrell opened the second half with back-to-back threes and the Sparks led 52-43 three minutes into the third quarter. The Mystics scored the next eight points and the Sparks held a 58-55 lead heading to the fourth.

The Mystics had won seven straight before their back-to-back losses to the Aces.

The Sparks have lost four straight and 11 of 13. Cameron Brink (ribs) did not play, two days after she took a shoulder to the midsection from New York’s Breanna Stewart.

Up next: The Sparks visit Connecticut on Tuesday.

NEW YORK — Sabrina Ionescu scored 20 points and the New York Liberty avoided one of the biggest collapses in WNBA history, holding off the Sparks 85-81 on Thursday night.

New York (21-14) led 69-41 early in the fourth quarter and looked poised to cruise to an easy victory when the Sparks scored 21 straight points to get within striking distance.

The Sparks (12-21) only trailed 82-79 with 26.6 seconds left and were in position to match the Chicago Sky for the biggest comeback in league history. The Sky rallied from 28-down to beat Las Vegas in 2022. Rae Burrell got the Sparks within one on a reverse layup with 22 seconds left. Ionescu hit two free throws with 14.8 remaining to restore the three-point advantage.

The Sparks had one last chance, but Ariel Atkins missed a three-pointer from the wing with seven seconds left and Ionescu hit a free throw with 3.2 seconds left to seal the win.

The Sparks also lost Cameron Brink earlier in the fourth quarter. She helped key the game-changing run, drawing an offensive foul on Breanna Stewart. Brink was down on the floor for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room with a towel over her head. She took a shot to the stomach area from Stewart to get the offensive foul called. A few minutes earlier Brink and Burrell banged heads.

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said Brink was being evaluated by doctors after a “brutal hit to the ribs”, but didn’t have an update other than that.

Cameron Brink controls the ball during the first half against New York on Thursday.

(Elsa Garrison / Getty Images)

Burrell finished with a career-high 28 points.

New York got a scare in the third when Ionescu left the game. She went down awkwardly after playing defense and quickly grabbed her right foot. She subbed out soon after and jogged up the tunnel back to the locker room area. She returned about four minutes later on the game clock to a nice ovation from the crowd.

Jonquel Jones was a big reason the Liberty built a 49-32 lead at the half with 10 points and 12 rebounds. New York extended the advantage to 26 after three quarters and 69-41 before the Sparks rallied.

New York was still playing without Leonie Fiebich and Satou Sabally. Coach Chris DeMarco said that there’s no timetable on Fiebich’s return and that Sabally, who has been sidelined for over a month with a concussion, was away from the team.

Up next for the Sparks: at Washington on Saturday.

Bradley Beal is returning to the Clippers after missing most of last season because of a left hip injury.

The 33-year-old guard signed a new deal, the team said Thursday. No terms were announced. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported it’s two years for $13.2 million.

In his first season with the Clippers, Beal averaged 8.2 points, 1.7 assists and 20.2 minutes in six starts before sustaining the season-ending injury on Nov. 8.

The three-time All-Star has averaged 21.4 points, 4.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds during his 14-year NBA career, including stints with Washington and Phoenix.

The ITV crime series is returning with a familiar face leading the expos command

Trigger Point will soon return to television screens with a much-loved actress joining the bomb disposal experts.

The fourth season of the ITV crime drama sees Vicky McClure’s Lana Washington and her bomb defusal unit take on an explosive new case as they seek to keep the people of London safe from explosive devices and terrorist threats.

McClure has shared her excitement about the new episodes ahead of the release: “I love working with the team, we have a great time making the show, and I cannot wait to continue Lana’s journey on Trigger Point.”

The first look trailer confirms the team’s new challenge is “unprecedented”, with Lana noting that they seem to know how her team works. The scale of the attacks is made even clearer when Lana confirms, “The threats feel bigger, the bombs are closer.”

Returning on-screen alongside Lana is Eric Shango as Danny, Nabil Elouahabi as Hassan “Hass” Rahim, Natalie Simpson as DS Helen Morgan, and Maanuv Thiara as DCI Amar Batra.

Shetland star Julie Graham has also joined the star-studded cast as Commander Nia Quentin.

In the trailer, viewers see Nia confirm that this could be “the biggest terror attack this country has seen,” as the expo team battles to save the capital.

Away from Trigger Point, fans of crime dramas will know Julie as Rhona Kelly in the BBC series Shetland between 2014 and 2022.

The show is based on the bestselling crime novels by award-winning author Ann Cleeves and follows a dedicated police team as they investigate grisly murders and long-buried secrets within the tight-knit, remote island community of Scotland’s Isles.

Scottish actress Julie, 61, has been a seemingly near-permanent fixture on our screens since a Taggart appearance in the mid-1980s.

Her other long-running series commitments include portraying Megan Hartnoll in At Home With The Braithwaites, Abby Grant in Survivors, and playing Sheron Dawson in the adored sitcom, Benidorm.

Most recently, period drama fans saw Julie transform into Ma Hardacre in the Channel 5 show The Hardacres, which follows the sweeping rags-to-riches journey of a working-class family in 1890s Yorkshire.

She also played Annie Marling in Ridley and Elain Phelan in This City is Ours.

Trigger Point series 1-3 is available to stream on ITVX