Thomas takes her turn in leading Sparks’ win

The Sparks again found a way to make up for the sudden departure of Chamique Holdsclaw as Christi Thomas scored a career-high 25 points in an 89-80 victory over the Washington Mystics on Friday at the Verizon Center.

The Mystics (1-9), who trailed by 13 points in the third quarter, cut the Sparks’ lead to 79-77 when Alana Beard made a three-point shot with slightly more than a minute left.

But Kiesha Brown, one of two players signed by the Sparks since Holdsclaw retired June 10, answered with a three-pointer. The Sparks (5-2) then made seven of eight free throws to close out the game.

LaToya Thomas added 12 points for the Sparks, who also got news that their star player, Lisa Leslie, gave birth to her first child earlier in the day.

The Mystics got 20 points from reserve Monique Currie. Delisha Milton-Jones had 15 points for Washington.

The victory made the Sparks 2-0 since the sudden retirement of Holdsclaw, a former Mystics star. The six-time all-star forward spent her first six seasons with the Mystics before being traded to the Sparks for Milton-Jones and a first-round draft pick in March 2005.

The Mystics got a brief scare with 2:30 left in the second quarter when Beard, their leading scorer, crashed to the baseline on a layup, wincing as she held her left leg. But Beard returned to start the second half and finished with 11 points.