Arike Ogunbowale scored 20 points and the Dallas Wings closed the WNBA regular season on Sunday with an 87-84 win over Los Angeles, which kept the Sparks out of the playoffs, giving the No. 8 seed to the New York Liberty.
With Los Angeles and Washington losing on the final day, idle New York (12-20) got into the postseason by holding the Liberty holding the three-way tiebreaker.
New York will play a first-round, single-elimination game at Phoenix on Thursday.
The Wings (14-18) were locked into the seventh seed and play at No. 6 Chicago on Thursday.
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The Wings led 44-41 at the half and stretched the lead to 13 early in the fourth quarter before the Sparks responded with nine straight points. Twice Ogunbowale knocked down 3-pointers to restore the lead to seven. The teams traded scores but Allisha Gray missed two free throws -- Dallas was 17 of 17 before that -- with 7.4 seconds left, giving L.A. one last chance.
The Sparks were 13 of 26 from 3-point range until Erica Wheeler, who scored 22 points, missed a final, tying attempt in the closing seconds.
Marina Mabrey scored 16 points for the Wings. Dallas also got a boost from Isabelle Harrison, who missed the previous four games because of virus protocol. She scored 14 points.
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Nneka Ogwumike kept Los Angeles in the game, hitting two of her season-high four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scoring 18 points with 10 rebounds. Te'a Cooper led the Sparks with 24 points.
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