Sparks Barely Stop Their Skid

Their reserves were scoreless, but the Sparks escaped San Antonio and ended a three-game losing streak with a 66-63 victory over the last-place Silver Stars on Friday night at the SBC Center.

Chamique Holdsclaw scored a game-high 21 points, Doneeka Hodges added 17 and Lisa Leslie 16 for the Sparks (12-12), who were playing their fifth game in an eight-game trip and maintained their hold on the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The reserves, including former starter Mwadi Mabika, shot a combined 0 for 11.

Wendy Palmer-Daniel led the Silver Stars (7-20) with 17 points. Marie Ferdinand, the team’s leading scorer, returned to the lineup after a three-game absence because of a death in the family. She finished with eight points on three-for-10 shooting.

After trailing by one, at 35-34, at halftime, the Sparks opened the second half with a 15-4 run. The Sparks led, 49-39, when Leslie scored on a fastbreak with 14:56 left.

San Antonio cut the L.A. lead to three with 1:34 left, but Holdsclaw scored consecutive field goals to help L.A. slip away.

Leslie did have a rough patch near the end of the first half. Not long after the Sparks lost a lead with about five minutes left in the first half, the 6-foot-5 Leslie swatted at the face of San Antonio 6-8 rookie center Katie Feenstra and was initially called for a technical foul. The call against Leslie was changed to a personal foul after the officials huddled and determined the ball still was out of play on an inbounds play.

Leslie then was benched for the final 4:15 of the half, and San Antonio led by as many as five before halftime.

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Phoenix 80, Houston 75 -- Diana Taurasi had 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to lead the Mercury (12-13) at Phoenix. Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson had 18 points each for the Comets (15-11).