Sparks fall to Mystics, 68-53

Crystal Langhorne scored a career-high 27 points and had 14 rebounds to help the Washington Mystics beat the Sparks, 68-53, Thursday night.

Lindsay Harding had 16 points for Washington (8-4), which held an opponent under 60 points for the first time this season and won four in a row for the first time since 2006.

Kristi Toliver scored all 11 of her points and made three three-pointers in the third quarter to help the Sparks (3-9) cut a 13-point halftime deficit to 51-45.

But Monique Currie hit two inside baskets to open the fourth for Washington, and Harding made two foul shots and a breakaway layup in an 8-0 run to begin the fourth quarter and the Mystics led by double digits the rest of the way.

Noelle Quinn scored 10 points for the Sparks in their second game without leading scorer Candace Parker, who will have surgery to repair a dislocated left shoulder and miss the rest of the season. It was the Sparks’ lowest-scoring game of the season.

The Sparks now will also be without veteran guard Betty Lennox, who will undergo knee surgery early next week to repair a torn meniscus. Lennox, who is averaging 4.9 points, 1.5 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 11.6 minutes a game, has struggled with the injury throughout the season and elected to have the surgery now. She is expected to be out four to six weeks.